


The Forgotten Time

by metamorcy



Series: The Forgotten Time [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Drama, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-04
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2017-12-10 09:45:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 132,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/784661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metamorcy/pseuds/metamorcy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An incident with the 10-year bazooka leaves Tsuna stuck in the past… What's he gonna to do now? R27, hints of All27 and certain Arcobaleno27. COMPLETED</p><p>Posted under Metamorcy on fanfiction</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tme Travel

When Tsuna started a day, it started the same way every morning and ended the same way every night. It was a routine that he was starting to get used to even with all the craziness that happened each day with his family and friends. There was hardly anything new happening besides the usual ever since the incident with the future with Byakuran. Even with all the yelling, arguments, explosives, and torment he was put through, it was strangely peaceful, but Tsuna knew better. He was all too familiar with this type of silence and the phrase 'the calm before the storm' since he had experienced it far too many times before to remain relaxed.

Tsuna knew that with the changes that were occurring rapidly in his life, there could be nothing too peaceful and he was hoping that whatever was coming his way wasn't too big or major. That and he didn't want to deal with another mafia famiglia; he didn't want to get any deeper into that world and wanted to avoid it as much as possible, especially considering the fact that he had been killed ten years later even though it had been done with a purpose. Anything with them just caused him pain, injuries, and headaches, and he knew for a fact that it would one day be the death of him. He wanted to live, thank you very much.

"Time to wake up, Dame-Tsuna." A voice called out to the teenager before he was barely even aware of his surroundings, echoing forebodingly in the brunet's subconscious mind. Despite his hyper intuition going haywire over the threat, Tsuna remained fast asleep, snuggling deeper into the blankets and pillow and let out a deep sigh in content.

Of course, Tsuna should have learned by now that this hyper intuition was always right. A sharp kick to his stomach jolted him wide awake, he let out a pained cry, and before he realized it, he was kicked again, this time from the other side. He felt his body soaring through the air, the areas that had been hit going numb, and slammed into the wall on the other side of the bed before skidding down, collapsing onto the floor with his back first. He twitched in pain, groaning to himself, and tried to adjust himself from the awkward position that he had landed into. His honey-colored eyes peered up at the only person that would hit him like that and so willingly. "Reborn! You didn't have to kick me like that!"

Slowly, he rolled over to glare up at his sadistic tutor, though it looked more of a pout, and winced when one of his books that was on the floor bumped into the bruise. He resisted from hissing at it, knowing that he would only be punished more, and held himself by his elbows. His spiky caramel-colored hair was ragged and needed to be brushed to look more presentable and his night clothes were all wrinkled from sleeping.

The hitman just stared back with those large black eyes, a smirk on his lips with his hands in his pockets, looking quite smug at what he had done. Leon, meanwhile, shifted slightly on Reborn's fedora, that wide apathetic gaze staring into the distance, and he flicked his tongue soon after. Sighing in defeat, Tsuna knew better then to try something with his demonic tutor from hell and lifted himself up further so that he was on his bottom with his back against the wall, rubbing his sides where he had been hit with his hands. This time he winced, the numbness settling back into pain, and hesitated in pulling up his shirt to take a look. Years of bullying told him that these two spots were going to bruise later on, definitely considering Reborn's crazy strength. Getting onto his feet, the brunet looked around for the time, not sure if he really wanted to take a look.

His eyes widened when he found his blinking clock and screamed. "Hiiieee! I'm going to be late! Hibari-san is going to bite me to death!"

Those horrible terrifying numbers continued to flash on and off at him hauntingly; he only had fifteen minutes before school started. That shitty luck of his continued its run of horror on his life.

"Then you better hurry, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn smirked, tilting his fedora downward to cover his face, watching in amusement as his student panicked.

"Reborn!"

Tsuna got dressed in record time, something he had learned after years of waking up late, and tossed all his school materials into his backpack before running out the door. He didn't even bother eating breakfast, knowing that there was no time to stop, and passed by his family that were in the kitchen without sparing a word. Slamming the front door behind him, he kept his pace, hoping to get to school before the bell rang to his demise. To the people he went by, he looked nothing more than a blur that was racing down the streets and leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

Reborn, sitting in the bedroom window, watched in amusement as his charge ran around in panic and sipped on a cup of espresso. He savored the taste on his lips, letting it linger on his taste buds before swallowing. Chuckling darkly to himself, it was always amusing to see the brunet in a mess like that and the expressions that followed. It always seemed to make his day. As he thought that, he reached up for a moment to pet Leon on the head.

Luckily for Tsuna, he made it in on time just as he heard the bell ringing. He slumped against the wall to catch his breath, using the frame to hold himself up. Some of his classmates looked up at him and a few laughed at his appearance which made it obvious what had happened. Using his last bit of strength, he wobbled towards his desk and collapsed onto it, groaning, and fell face forward onto his desk. He buried his head into his arms, wanting to go back to sleep. He was just so tired. All that running in the morning wasn't good for him, he knew that, or thought that, but it couldn't be helped. He'd rather not think about what would happen if Hibari found out that he had been skipping school rather than being late. Tsuna shuddered at the thought.

Reborn was at fault, too; he wasn't making things any easier.

'What's up with Reborn? Does he really have to wake me up like that? It'd be nice if he'd just wake me up like a normal person…I'd rather not start my day with a hammer being slammed against my head.' Tsuna sighed in dismay and looked around his classroom while it was in session, the teacher was talking about some random thing he didn't care about in the front of the room, writing something on the blackboard. He just didn't feel like paying attention. It was the same boring stuff as usual to him. Nothing new. His honey-colored eyes glanced at Gokudera and Yamamoto, who were quietly bickering with each other, and turned away to see the teacher now making a fuss at some poor student that made a remark against him.

The door sliding open caught his attention when his mind wandered around, imagining about anything but school. He lifted his head up slightly to peer at the late students that were just coming in and took in their condition. Grimacing at the sight, he knew very well what had happened to them since he had been in their position plenty of times. Hibari had obviously gotten to them. Bruises on their skin, faces especially, were starting to swell up and turn purple and their clothes were all torn apart, some starting to fall off the students' shoulders. Blood was still fresh, dripping from their wounds, and some of their clothes were darkening at the added color. No one had gotten away, meeting the terrible fate by tonfa.

Tsuna couldn't be any happier that he had managed to arrive to school on time; he didn't want to be in his fellow classmate's position. He was already well acquainted with Hibari's hits; he didn't need any more of them. After that, things in class continued the way it always did like a record. As usual, he would get called on by the teacher to answer some question on the board or to read something in English and soon after, he would be laughed at, teased, and ridiculed for getting it wrong. It was something he was familiar with. After the laughter calmed down, by habit, he would grab onto Gokudera to force the storm guardian not to blow anyone up. Tsuna always wondered why no one ever ran from the sight of the dynamites, he wondered if everyone here was just plain crazy or dense.

'I can't really get a peaceful day. Probably never will…Does it have to always be this crazy?' Tsuna groaned silently to himself, knowing he would never get that wish. Ever since Reborn came into his life, nothing had ever been normal, but he couldn't deny there was some good in it despite the madness. For once, he had friends, true friends that would protect him and come to his aid. It was nice compared to the usual bullying day to day. But even with all that, the insanity won out. 'My life is so screwed up.'

Staring out the window, Tsuna watched as the white clouds in the sky went by, slowly edging across the great blue like a snail. A bird or two would enter and leave his vision and class continued on as usual. Before he realized it, a bell rang alerting him that the day ended. He blinked in surprise, wondering if he had wasted his entire day staring out the window, shook his head to get his thoughts together. Pulling his stuff together and into his backpack, he stood up from his seat, listening to his chair screeching back, and turned to his two friends, who were waiting right next to him. Tsuna immediately smiled, slowly making his way around the classroom towards the door, his two best friends in toll.

However, they didn't get very far before the fangirls started trailing after them, or, the two other teens. They were all batched up together, looking like a giant mass of black with glowing eyes peering over the group like hungry predators ready to strike at any moment.

"Looks like our fans are following us." Yamamoto laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he peered back at the girls.

"Tch, who needs them," Gokudera grumbled, glaring, before looking at Tsuna. "Juudaime! I'm really sorry about this. I can take care of them right away for you! I can blow them up!"

Before the brunet could say anything in response, the rain guardian did. "Are you going to use those fireworks? I think the girls would be happier if you did."

"They're not fireworks, asshole!"

"Guys…" Tsuna sighed, shaking his head at his friends' usual antics, and chuckled softly. Though, he couldn't help but twitch in surprise when he noticed the girls shifting closer to them. In all honesty, he'd rather have this type of affection than the kind he normally got. He got a little disheartened that he would never have anyone to follow him around except for Haru and the people that wanted him dead. The latter he could really do without. It was something that he would have to blame Reborn for occurring and at the rate this was going, he would never die a normal death. Tsuna shrunk fearfully at the thought that, more than likely, he would die a long painful death.

Despite the abnormality in his world, he couldn't help but wish that there was one person somewhere out there in this crazy world that would understand him the most, someone that had some sense, and he wished that maybe, just maybe, that person would be the one for him. So far only Kyoko seemed to stand out.

'Ah…but that's just a dream. I'm not that lucky,' Tsuna sighed, 'I'm more likely to get someone just as crazy as Reborn.'

"Juudaime!" Gokudera called out, still irritated that half of the female population of the school was still trailing after them. He wanted to send the annoyances away, they were disturbing his beloved boss and no one was allowed to. If only Tsuna wouldn't stop him from pulling out his dynamites, then he would have gotten rid of them long ago. "Is everything going well for you at home? I'll blow anyone up if they're causing you any trouble! And Juudaime, aren't these idiotic women annoying to you? Please let me get rid of them!"

"Hiiiieeee! Gokudera-kun, don't! Everything is okay! Perfectly fine! Nothing out of the ordinary!" Tsuna quickly replied, paling at the thought of destruction that his friend could cause. 'If you blow anything up, I'll be the one in trouble!'

"Maa, ma, Gokudera, you don't mean that. You're just going to throw those fireworks of yours around, right?" Yamamoto as usual misunderstood.

"How many times do I have to tell you that they're not fireworks?!"

The two started to bicker again, Gokudera yelling at the top of his lungs to try and get his point across while Yamamoto would just stand there and take it without batting an eye. It was starting to become almost a routine to them and Tsuna was finding it easier and easier to tune them out. He knew that they wouldn't hurt each other, but he couldn't help but react whenever Gokudera pulled out his weapons.

As his two friends fought, they were suddenly engulfed by the female mob, this time disappearing into it. Tsuna watched as the two still continued to fight despite the pushing and shoving of the female population and the brunet could only stand at the side, watching the entire time not sure if he should go in or not to help them. Those girls looked ferocious, ready for blood, and he immediately backed down, wondering if he would be killed by them. Girls could get really scary if they wanted to.

'I think it'd be best if I just…go home,' As he thought that, the mob of girls started to dissipate around the corner, but even as the crowd faded, his friends were nowhere in sight, probably having snuck away to hide. Tsuna sighed, looked like he'd be walking home by himself. Well, at least it'd be quiet for once. Just as he saw the top of his house, the familiar patched up roof that had been repaired multiple times over the years in view, he heard a sharp cry that caught his attention and recognized it instantly. Tsuna simply groaned, shoulders slumping downward. 'Ah, spoke too soon.'

The screaming got louder and he blinked his eyes, glancing up at the fence to see a child in cow print come crashing down in front of him. Tsuna flinched at the sound, taking a step back in shock. At the crash site, a puff of dust covered the small area, hiding the site from view, and as some of the dust floated over to him, he tilted his head to the side to cough. 'Ahhhh, again? Does Lambo ever learn?' He sighed as the dust died down and mentally smacked himself at the sight in front of him before heading over to help the five-year-old.

"Lambo…are you alright?" Tsuna leaned over the crater at the center to peer inside and sighed once more when he came upon the five-year old. Crying reached his ears immediately and he could see the kid sitting on the ground brawling. Regardless of any comforting words Tsuna spoke in an effort to calm Lambo, the lightning guardian continued to cry, rubbing his eyes in response to wipe the tears aside. "Hey, don't cry."

Lambo, of course, didn't listen to him. That wasn't anything new.

Tsuna rubbed the back of his head in frustration before letting his eyes trail to the familiar weapon that was lying next to the kid, the thing that always seemed to cause a lot of trouble every time it was used, the ten-year bazooka. He didn't want it to be anywhere near him, much less used. It brought more headaches than remedy. Tsuna shook his head at his thoughts and stepped closer, knowing that he would have to be the one to bring Lambo home to be treated. Considering everyone else, Tsuna was probably one of the few that could tolerate Lambo when he got like this, but that didn't mean that he wanted to. During the time Tsuna traveled down the crater to help, a few sparks flickered around the bazooka, but he paid no attention to it, focused on his lightning guardian.

Lambo continued to cry, letting his tears dirty his little outfit, and rolled in the dirt turning that once white color into a gray. He kicked up dust in his little fit and screamed out words that didn't make any sense and some in a different language that Tsuna didn't understand. If he had to guess, it was probably Italian.

Rubbing the back of his head, Tsuna kneeled down beside Lambo and reached out to pat the child on the head, hoping that it would help calm down the smaller kid. "There, there, no need to cry. Everything is okay now," Lambo went down to some sniffs, now focused on the brunet instead of the pain. It was an improvement compared to before. "Come on, let's get you inside. I bet Mama has something good for you to eat. You want to eat something good, right?"

"Y-Yeah…" The crying seemed to die down and Tsuna helped Lambo up to stand, noting the large bruise on the cow child. But before Lambo could completely go back to his normal whiny self, he suddenly jumped up to grab the bazooka, pointing it towards himself.

'Oh great, here comes ten-years later Lambo,' Tsuna sighed for the hundredth time today. This was something that was starting to become a regular occurrence. He should have seen it coming even before it did. By experience, the current Lambo would disappear and then adult Lambo would appear to take his place in his glory, probably looking worse for wear.

However, something unexpected occurred instead. Just as Lambo was about to pull the trigger, I-Pin came jumping out from the sky, following the falling pattern of the previous child. Instead of landing on the ground, she smacked into the five-year-old, Lambo falling under the force. The surprise caused Lambo to collapse to the ground and shifted the direction to the weapon. Instead of pointing it towards the user, it was now turned to…

Tsuna.

The brunet's honey-colored eyes widened during that split moment, shock apparent by his expression, and he unconsciously raised his arms up to defend himself. But he should have known deep within his mind that nothing would save him. "W-Wait a second! Lambo!"

But it was too late, the trigger had already been pulled. Tsuna saw the missile come at him before the color pink covered his vision. A puff of smoke surrounded the area that he had been standing at, covering everything from view. The two kids glanced at each other for a moment, wondering what would happen, but neither decided to hang around. They turned tail and ran away towards the house, hoping that no one would know what wrong they had committed.

As the smoke cleared, all there was left was emptiness.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Tsuna wasn't sure what happened, his eyes were closed shut to prevent them from stinging from the smoke and he coughed wildly as he inhaled the gas. His lungs burned and he coughed louder to clear them, desperately trying to breathe in clear air. Peeking his eyes open for a moment, he immediately closed them back, pain overwhelming him.

'Why me…? Why does this always happen to me…?' he grumbled mentally, stilling his coughing, and waited for the air to clear up, not wanting to try and wander around in an area he wasn't familiar with. He hoped that he hadn't been transported into something dangerous, he would be so dead.

Tsuna refused to let himself relax, preparing himself for anything that might occur, and as the strong scent of smoke started to die down, another scent came slipping in. It made his nose twitch in irritation and felt like the need to throw up. It was terrible, like something was rotting.

His eyes peeked open once more, wanting to know what was going in, and found himself able to see only the pink smoke. It was slowly clearing up, patches of the surrounding scenery revealing itself. But he wished that he hadn't seen anything. The place he had landed into was almost completely dark, sounds rattling around him. The air was dense and thick and it made it hard to breathe. The limited lighting, which was almost none, slipped in through the cracks of the covered windows and broken splinters of wood on the walls and roof. It wasn't a place where he wanted to be.

Taking a step forward, he felt his shoes splashing into something and blinked in response to it. Peering down, he squinted his eyes to try and make it out, but it looked like some sort of liquid that was dark in color or maybe that perception was because there was no light to reveal the color. Familiar sounds of chains rattling and gears turning were picked up, but regardless of those sounds, it was dead quiet. If he listened carefully enough, he could hear some sort of dripping, like water was falling, not too far ahead and he went towards it since there was nowhere else for him to go. The rotting odor that had been weak due to the smoke previously was much stronger than before and there was another smell that was mixed in, copper. As his eyes adjusted to the lighting, he took his time in figuring out why that last scent was so familiar, he knew deep within that it was something he didn't like, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Then he realized it. It was blood.

An accustomed click echoed close to his head.

Tsuna immediately froze. His eyes widened in shock and fear and he shivered as something ice-cold was pressed against his back where the spinal cord and shoulders met. The end grinded into his bone and he couldn't help but wince at the pain.

Then a huff of breath from behind alerted Tsuna that there was someone standing behind him. But when had someone managed to sneak up on him when there was water around? Surely the footsteps would be heard, right?

At that moment, his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness…and he wish he hadn't. His large honey eyes widened at the sight before him, the smells all coming to him at once, and it took every ounce of control to not throw up. His facial skin color paled to a sheer white and his body trembled terribly, a cold sweat running down his body.

Right there before him were bodies among bodies piled up just before his feet, many looking rotted from the thick air. Holes were all over the bodies and he was certain there was more, but he couldn't tell as blood covered everything, but the holes in the dead center of a couple of foreheads were too obvious. He had seen a lot of terrible things from his involvement with Vongola but this…this had to be the worst of it.

Blood was still oozing out from the corpses and many of the bodies looked like they had been killed just recently. Realization occurred to his mind as he thought of something. Wasn't he stepping in something? His eyes immediately trailed down to his shoes where a puddle of something surrounded it and knew it could only be one thing. Tsuna swallowed thickly, fear pulsing though his very being, wondering in the back of his mind if he would become one of those bodies. He didn't want to die…not like this. Gathering what courage he had left, he carefully turned around shakily and stared up at the gun that was pointing towards his chest, right at his heart that thumped deep inside his rib cage.

His honey-colored eyes stared at the barrel of the gun, noting the model that he normally saw used in Vongala, and trailed upwards toward the hands. They were rough and much bigger looking than his own and he then went to the jacket the man was wearing. It appeared to be some suit that looked so neat, it could have been ironed just a few moments ago, but Tsuna knew it wasn't possible, not here anyway. When he came to the face that was covered by the shadow of the fedora, he blinked for a second, taking in the features. The man looked…way too familiar. But how was that possible? Tsuna was certain he had never seen this person before.

" _Who are you_?" The person asked, black eyes narrowing dangerously from below the hat, and pushed the gun harder into the soft fleshy skin of Tsuna's chest. The coldness from both the gun and the voice made the poor teen shiver in fright, noting that this man was probably the cause of all the death around him. But despite his running thoughts, he stared in a mixture of confusion towards the other, not understanding the words. It sounded something Gokudera would talk in. Was it Italian?

'But what did he say?' Tsuna managed to think, his eyes wide. "H-H-Huh?"

The man raised an eyebrow and changed languages. This time it was English, something Tsuna could make out from school. He never thought that those terrible classes would finally come in handy and this wasn't the best way. " _Name._ "

"N-Name? O-Oh, I-I'm Sawada T-T-Tsunayoshi…," the sky guardian stuttered in Japanese, not sure if he should try answering back in broken English, which probably wasn't the best idea. His eyes glanced down at his watch, waiting for the five minutes to be up so he could get out of here. Just what was his future-self doing in such a place? He knew he would never get that answer, not like this. Regardless, he needed time to go faster, he wanted to get out of here alive, and head back to his own time alive!

The man blinked at the phrase, not understanding it for a moment, before narrowing his eyes at the information once he translated the words in his head to a different language. He examined the teen before him intently before snorting. "You speak Japanese…" he muttered under his breath before pressing the gun harder without care. "Doesn't matter who you are, I need you to tell the truth about your identity. I'm not a very patient man and I don't like lies. Try anything and you'll find a bullet lodged into your chest. Hmmm, looks like your survival doesn't appear all that high right now."

"W-What? But it's true! Please don't shoot me!" Tsuna shifted back a little to get some distance away from the man and more importantly the gun. His feet splashed through the blood below, creating rips in the once calm liquid, and scattered more of it onto his shoes. Even though terror was running through his veins, he continued to examine the dangerous person and suddenly recognized the familiar fedora hat. He could only think of one person that wore that, but he was only a baby, right?

Still the name slipped out from his lips. "R-Reborn?"

And with that one name, the atmosphere shifted and not in a good way. The man pulled the trigger and a bullet shot right beside Tsuna's head, just glazing his right cheek. A thin red line burned on the skin and a drop of blood fell down, coloring his pale complexion. The bullet went further behind and slammed into a corpse, splattering more blood onto the wall and other bodies, deepening the color. Blood fell from the little hole, pooling out to join the rest that was already on the ground. But Tsuna didn't pay any attention to that, he had more things to worry about…like the glare the killer was giving him. It had darkened considerably and the threat of his life was getting stronger, Tsuna would be a dead man very soon if he didn't shut his trap. "How do you know my name? Answer me or else the next bullet will be in your skull."

"W-Wait!" Tsuna's head was spinning at actually being right, his arms flapping wildly before him to protect himself. He hadn't expected this person to actually be Reborn. That didn't make any sense. Reborn was only a baby, there was no way he would be able to grow up so fast in ten years and look like _that_. 'How is this even possible?!' he screamed in his head, tempted to pull at his hair in frustration. Then why didn't Reborn recognize him? The hitman should be able to since ten years in the future shouldn't make this much difference… 'Wait… Wasn't the ten-year bazooka sparking after it fallen down with Lambo? Could that have caused the problem? Then anything could have happened. I could be further in the future or I might even have gone backwards… Ahhhh! There are just so many possibilities.' As his mind was rampaging within, he took note of the time, still aware of the burning gaze that was one him. Five minutes had already passed and they were starting to reach twenty at this moment.

'This…This can't be… I'm not trapped here, am I?' Tsuna panicked, staring up at the scary adult-version of Reborn. The hitman was more serious and dangerous looking then when he had been a baby; a fact he was right now terribly missing. In all honesty, he'd rather have the one that loved to torture him, but at the same time, help him grow rather than the one before him that was about to put a bullet in his forehead. Tsuna knew from experience with the baby-version that there was no doubt in his mind that this Reborn wouldn't hesitate to kill him, the proof was the very gun pointed directly at him.

"I'm waiting…" Reborn pulled the trigger to shoot another bullet, his patience getting thinner by the second. This time the shot went the other side of Tsuna's cheek, gazing the skin once more, but this time it was much deeper than before. Blood fell easier, trailing down in a line, and a couple pieces of hair flew away, scattering to the ground where the pool of blood was at. This little warning snapped Tsuna back into reality. If he didn't answer back soon, his life would definitely be endangered.

"P-P-Please d-don't do that!" Tsuna cried out, backing further away, and reached up to tenderly rub his new bleeding spot before squeezing his eyes shut in fear of the outcome. The cut hurt like hell, it was almost like a paper cut, but worse, and he could feel the warm liquid get onto his hands, still trying to stop the bleeding. This situation was…hopeless, Reborn was going to kill him and that would be it. Goodbye life, had a nice run while it lasted. Still his fear made him continue talking. "And even if I told you, you won't believe me! It sounds so stupid."

Amusingly, the gun lowered slightly, but those dark eyes continued to glare, watching every move to make sure that nothing would happen to him. When he no longer felt the high amount of danger, Tsuna carefully opened his eyes to stare up at the man in disbelief, wondering if it was all just a joke to make him talk.

But Reborn just stood there, still glaring underneath the fedora. "Try me."

The sky guardian blinked in surprise, he was getting a chance? That didn't…sound like the Reborn he knew. The Reborn he knew was terrifying and shot at him until he got the answer he wanted. This was…just odd. Maybe this wasn't Reborn? But those curls and those dark eyes…it had to be.

Just as he opened his mouth to question the man, he was suddenly stopped by shouting occurring in the distance. The voices seemed to echo in the hallway, bouncing off the metal like a flash of light. Tsuna turned toward the direction he had believed he had heard them from, his spiky hair twirling at the force, eyes wide in shock. "Wha…"

Reborn let out a 'tsk', eyes narrowing dangerously, and lifted his gun back up. 'Guess they found the bodies. It won't be long before they come here to investigate.' His black eyes trailed around the room, identifying his escape route, and then finally came back to the kid… He growled at himself for what he was about to do, why was he doing this in the first place? He never let anyone who knew his identity stay alive and it would be so simple to leave that child with the rest of the bodies with a hole in his forehead.

But…there were still a lot of things he needed to ask the other, like the way the kid appeared. That puff of pink smoke was definitely not normal. Reborn had never seen an entrance like that before and it had honestly surprised him. And if he wanted to get his answers, he would need to take the kid with him and keep him alive. Ah, what a pain. Still, shouldn't be too hard to do all those things with his skills. Not going further into it, he reached down, grabbing Tsuna's shirt, and yanked the teen close to his body. Tsuna's honey-colored eyes just stared dumbly, blinking for a moment, not sure what was going on. His mind was still racing from Reborn's appearance. "We're getting out of here and you're coming with me. If you try to escape, I _will_ shoot you."

Tsuna swallowed thickly, shivering again at the cruelty in the tone, and knew full well that Reborn wouldn't hesitate to kill him. The brunet wanted to cry so badly right then and there if the glare didn't make him hold still in fear. He was scared, so scared, but he forced his feet to move and nodded his head in compliance. It was better to guess follow along willingly than dragged. "I won't…I promise."

Reborn, who had stepped away for a moment to check the area, glanced back towards him, eyebrows rising upward. Soon after, he reached up to pull his hat down to cover his expression. He had to admit his curiosity towards this…this boy was growing stronger. It wasn't as if this happened regularly, not that he wanted it to. "You're a…strange kid."

The brunet, who had been expecting an insulting response, was surprised. Maybe this wasn't Reborn. No, this was definitely the same hitman, just bigger and taller and everything, but even with all that, this man before him was one and the same. Tsuna smiled weakly in reply, knowing that that phrase was the truth of his life. "I know, you don't need to tell me that."

The black-haired man huffed, "Let's go."


	2. Running

_The brunet, who had been expecting an insulting response, was surprised. Maybe this wasn't Reborn. No, this was definitely the same hitman, just bigger and taller and everything, but even with all that, this man before him was one and the same. Tsuna smiled weakly in reply, knowing that phrase was the truth of his life. "I know, you don't need to tell me that."_

_The black-haired man huffed. "Let's go."_

Tsuna felt a shiver run up and down his spine as he was pulled along towards the back door that he hadn't noticed at all when he first appear. Maybe it was because it was right beside the pile of corpses? He winced, feeling another yank as Reborn maneuvered him around the bodies, almost feeling like a rag doll at the force the hitman was using on him. The brunet swore his arm was going to be ripped off at this rate but grinded his teeth together to keep his yelps within, not wanting to cause any trouble to the older man. And anyway, this treatment wasn't as bad as the usual he got from the baby version of Reborn. Compared to this and all the beatings he got from his past enemies, the arm yanking was nothing. He welcomed it over the broken bones. As they ran towards the door, their shoes made loud splashing sounds in the puddles of blood, getting the liquid onto everything, and Tsuna almost felt like throwing up once more as he saw some of it had gotten onto his pants. This blood was going to be hard to explain to anyone that saw it.

When the door came close enough that Tsuna could touch, Reborn didn't bother pushing it open, no, he just kicked it, letting it fly off its hinges and to the other side of the hallway. Tsuna flinched at the loud sound, wondering if Reborn was just plain crazy or enjoyed making as much chaos as possible.

"I'm not crazy and I do enjoy making trouble." the hitman smirked, staring down at the flabbergasted teen.

'Did he just read my mind?'

"Yes, yes I did."

Tsuna pouted, slumping downwards, and turned away for a moment. Reborn examined the brunet a little longer before bringing his attention back to the hallway, making sure it was clear before proceeding towards the exit. The broken door, by some miracle, remained leaning against the wall on the opposite side, but the cracking in the wall made it obvious how much force Reborn'd used. Deciding that everything was good, Reborn motioned him to follow and ran out into what looked like a corridor, Tsuna was still right behind, trying to keep up with the faster man.

While he ran, Tsuna took a second to peer around the deserted area, wondering where he was at. Whatever it was, this place looked like crap compared to the buildings he was familiar with. This place was built out of a mixture of wood and metal, most of it was starting to fall apart and rust or mold over. Some pieces had already fallen down, letting some light into the dark areas, and any lighting that was used in the building seemed to flicker omnivorously. Seeing nothing else with the walls, Tsuna looked behind and down momentarily to see red footprints following them from behind and paled at the thought. Something like that appeared in those horror movies. He turned towards Reborn for a moment, was he stuck in one?

They eventually reached the end of the corridor and noticed how it split in two. For a moment, Reborn cursed to himself, looking down both sides, trying to figure out which was best. There were voices on both sides, shouting and yelling, and it all seemed to mix into one ball of mess, but he could easily identify the individual person. Regardless, this just told him there were too many people either way and though this would be simple for himself, he had a little baggage to watch out for. He made a 'tsk' sound under his breath in frustration. Looks like the memorized layout of the building was useless, not when there were so many people moving around. Getting in to do his job had been the easiest thing, seeing as most of the people here were so laid back or passed out from overdrinking, but getting out was another problem…

The brunet blinked and looked down both ways before letting his vision settle to the left. He wiggled his nose, he had a strong feeling that was pounding in his chest that they should go down that direction. Was it his intuition working again? Tsuna wonder to himself before shaking his head, it had helped him plenty of times before, he might as well trust it during this situation. After all, the baby Reborn always told him to follow his intuition and it had always gotten him out of trouble…well, only if he actually followed it. But Tsuna knew that right now wasn't the time to second guess, he needed something to get them both out without much trouble.

Stepping forward, the brunet reached out carefully, tugging onto Reborn's expensive suit to catch the man's attention. "Um…Reborn?"Just the touch seemed to work immediately as those dark cold eyes were now staring him calculatingly instead at the hallways.

"What is it?"

"I think…we should go to the left." the teen pointed down towards the direction, wondering if he made the right decision.

Reborn raised an eyebrow and turned his vision towards the hallway, considering it. He couldn't deny that there was always a possibility that it could be a trap for him. The kid could be working for the enemy family, he was paranoid enough as it is, and this situation wasn't helping. "And why's that? What are you basing this idea on?"

"It's just a feeling I have. I just believe that there'll be more trouble if we went the other way." Tsuna watched Reborn, who was staring at him, looking for any hints of whatever. The older man considered his opinions, he could either follow or ignore the boy, and it wasn't as if a little bit of fighting would do anything to him. He was confident that he could get out of any trouble that came his way no matter what, his skills was more than enough to back him up. But well, it wasn't as if there was any better way, he might as well see where the kid brings him to.

Reborn stared coldly at the teen, making the atmosphere around them darken, as if it wasn't dark enough due to the poor lighting. Tsuna stood there frozen to the ground and shivered at the powerful gaze, his body shaking at the intensity. When Reborn was finally satisfied, he nodded to the idea and lead the way, but not before grasping Tsuna's right arm to make sure the kid didn't try anything.

For Tsuna, this was better than he had expected. He had been expecting terrible bruises and broken bones at the daringness he showed and sighed as he prevented himself from being torn apart, trying to keep up with Reborn's movements, not wanting to be dragged. Nonetheless, his face brightened slightly at the thought that Reborn was actually following his suggestion for the first time since he was either ignored or beaten for trying anything. They continued down the corridor until they came to a four-way.

Reborn tilted his fedora back and peeked out, checking all the passageways. He could see a couple of men, about three, hanging around in the left wing, laughing among themselves. They obviously hadn't been informed yet of what had happened, something he knew he could take advantage of. Stepping out from behind the wall, he pulled the trigger three times, taking them down instantly, making each and every shot fatal. He didn't want to take any chances of them alerting the rest of the building about their location.

"Which way next, kid?" Reborn whispered as Leon turned back into a lizard, letting the little creature crawl back onto his fedora.

Tsuna was surprised at the harshness and coldness Reborn was showing to him, but he didn't have much time to think about it. There were more concerning matters to take care of. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to concentrate on his surroundings, letting his hyper intuition run its course before opening them to peer down the corridors. He had a feeling to go right, a whisper echoing within his ears, and knew better than to deny it. "This way and my name is Tsuna."

Reborn didn't reply to that, much less acknowledged him, and turned away to pull the teen along. The brunet pouted, not used to being ignored like this by Reborn, bullied perhaps and being shoved around like a little doll, but not outright being hated. Keeping his thoughts to himself, Tsuna watched as the hitman kept a sharp eye out for any enemies, one hand clenched as if ready to be used to defend himself. Their footsteps, as it hit the floor, made a dull sound, never echoing around, something that Tsuna was sure both of them were glad for. They didn't need anyone hearing them and come out to investigate and luckily for him, the creepy bloody prints had long disappeared, running out of liquid to attach itself to the floor.

As they came up to the next hallway, Tsuna went left this time and Reborn continued to lead the way until he suddenly stopped. The brunet paused as well, peering up the older man's back, watching those board shoulders tense, before glancing around, wondering what was wrong. He would have voiced his question when a door swung open loudly, making Tsuna jump.

He could hear voices, unfamiliar ones in a different language, coming from inside and there was laughter as well. Reborn immediately shoved him against the wall, hiding out of view from the men inside, before moving on his own. The hitman slowly went around the door that had been opened, going completely silent, and Leon was back in his regular gun mode form. Tsuna watched from behind, not wanting to get in the way or make things worse than they already were. For a moment, he thought Reborn looked kinda cool. As scary as the man was to him, the older man was elegant in everything he did even when just walking normally and looked so professional by the way he dressed. It was no wonder why Reborn had so many girlfriends that would come after him just to get a look at the handsome man. Tsuna mentally cursed, knowing he would never be like that.

He froze by instinct when he saw someone stepping out from the door, laughing at something before closing the door to cut himself off from everyone within. However, it was at that moment that Reborn reacted, raising his gun up just as the person turned. Tsuna could see those eyes going wide in shock and fear, but it was only for a second before the bullet ended the man's life, falling back. Tsuna turned away soon after, clenching his eyes shut, and paled, hands shaking against his chest. Death was…never something he got used to. The hitman grumbled to himself, catching the falling body with ease, and pushed it aside into an empty room so that if anyone else came out, they wouldn't see it and alert everyone immediately. The brunet remained where he was at, eyes closed shut, not wanting to see anything. He didn't want to see the body and he didn't want to see those dark eyes of Reborn's that were in killing mode. Oh how he wanted to be home where none of this ever happened and everything was familiar.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when a warm hand touched his arm, making him open his eyes to look at Reborn, who was standing in front of him. Those black eyes were calm and stared down at him with a flickering emotion Tsuna didn't recognize.

"Let's keeping going, kid."

"R-right…" the brunet tilted his head slightly before following right behind, unable to suppress the shiver as Reborn gazed over him. Tsuna didn't even bother to make a remark that Reborn was still calling him 'kid', not when the hitman still had that dangerous look in his eyes. Not noticing it from before but the shouting he had heard long ago was weaker and would have to strain his ears to actually hear the individual words. It looks like they were getting further away from the source. However, Tsuna knew better, if a signal were to be send out, the whole building would be on alert. But that placed a question in his mind, why hadn't an alert gone off? It should have by now. Tsuna peered at Reborn in question, wondering if the other had done something. "Reborn?"

"What?"

"Why hasn't the alert gone off yet? I mean, it should have by now…"

Reborn stared at him for a moment before answering. "I destroyed the machine." Well that question was answered.

Moving around the building, they spotted a door that was at the end of one hall. Reborn recognized it off the map, knowing that it was the exited they needed. There were two men guarding it, but Reborn didn't care, gunning them both down from his distance. It was almost like everything was far too easy for him, well, technically, it was. As the two neared it, Tsuna tried to stare ahead than at the bodies, but it was hard. There was no way he would be able to get around it. He couldn't stand the dead look in their eyes or the blood. Shivering, the color of his face drained and he stared down at his feet to help prevent himself from looking at anywhere else.

Reborn released his grip on the teenager, going ahead to open the door. His gun was still out and he peered outside carefully, checking the surrounding area for anyone. A bright light, sunlight, filtered into the room and it casted a shadow behind Reborn, the end of it going all the way to Tsuna's feet. "I guess your feeling led us out safely. To think a child could do such a thing." the hitman could see a few men outside, patrolling around the perimeter, and tried to calculate when the best time to run out. Taking a glance back, he peered over the teen for a moment, taking in the hesitant stance before sighing. Apparently, from what he managed to find out, the kid was obviously not an enemy. He was just too…kindhearted and nice, something that was unheard of in the mafia. Reborn shook his head at the quietness and closed the door slightly behind him as he stepped out to take care of the enemies. He wasn't going to drag someone like Tsuna out there, he would be more of an inconvenience than anything else.

While Reborn was out, Tsuna tried to contain his shaking and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths to control himself. His fingers were all together in a tight bundle and closed his eyes gently, trying to think of something other than the deceased that was just a few feet away. As the room was silent, he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a shot going off, even though it was silenced, and jumped slightly at it. There were a few more and then it stopped, Reborn had finished his work.

Just as he thought that, the door squeaked open revealing Reborn in his mighty glory and Tsuna automatically stepped closer, waiting for the hitman's orders. When Reborn motioned him to follow, he did and peered out into the open area, slowly letting his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness. He heard the door close right behind but didn't bother with it, focusing on his surroundings.

Reborn stepped behind him. "We need to keep going until we've reached the city."

"O-Okay…" As the older man went forward, Tsuna followed right behind, heading straight into the open courtyard that was in front of a forest. The brunet could spot the corpses in the distance, and snapped his head to look ahead instead. His honey-colored eyes peered into the sky for a second, watching as the sun waned down beyond the trees, but was still high enough to create enough light to see. Reborn lead the way through the trees, running behind the bushes to hide themselves from any other enemies that were there. His sharp eyes continued to scan the area to spot anyone that was too close. Just as they were about half a mile away, Tsuna tripped. "Ah!"

He landed onto a tree root that not only broke his fall, but prevented him from landing into the mud that was below. However, the root wasn't exactly soft and a piece of bark that had been sticking up, cut his pants, tearing it open. Tsuna whimpered at the pain and glanced down to take a look at how bad it is. There was some blood and dirt from the root on the cut, but nothing too bad. Taking a deep breath, he stood up slowly, limping a little at the pain, before taking a step forward. His fingers reached down to the spot and hissed when he touched it, placing pressure onto the wound, something he had learned from the baby Reborn. As he took another step, his legs wobbled before collapsing under him, not used to the sudden pain a step made and would have had another wonderful meeting with the ground if a hand hadn't reached down and grab his school vest. His eyes glanced up towards Reborn, who was giving a glare, and was pulled up to his feet.

"Be careful…" Reborn grumbled, letting go when the brunet could hold himself up.

Tsuna nodded slowly. "S-Sorry."

"It's fine. Look, we need to keep going. Can you walk?"

"Y-Yeah."

As Tsuna tried to straighten himself out, they went back to running, however, due to the cut, his legs continued to give out and he would stumble multiple times before going back to running again. His eyes caught the irritated look growing on Reborn and gulped at the glare, but knew there was nothing he could do. The painful throb continued to get worse and until he felt like he wanted to cry. At least it wasn't bleeding anymore.

"Stop." Reborn suddenly halted all movement, almost making Tsuna crash into him if he hadn't caught the teen himself. He sighed as he looked over the tired brunet, noticing the flushed expression that was distorted in pain. Why hadn't he left the kid for dead yet? Oh, right, information. 'We're getting nowhere like this. The kid can't keep up…'

His eyes looked over the area they were in, trying to figure out the best way to get around this mess. In one little area, there were multiple cars parked around, all related to the enemy. But the place was empty except for a few cameras that were on standstill. Tsuna leaned against a tree to hold himself up, fanning his face and the rest of his body by flapping his shirt back and forth. Sweat dripped down his chin and he wiped that off with his sleeve, feeling slightly cooler than before. When he looked at Reborn, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous. The older man looked completely the same, he didn't even look remotely tired, and there wasn't even a drop of sweat on his face. It wasn't fair.

When they didn't move for a few more minutes, Tsuna questioned the other, not sure on what was going on. "Reborn?"

The hitman glanced over to him then back at the cars. Looks like he had no other choice, at this rate, they would be caught even before making it back to the city. Grabbing the teen's left arm, he hauled him down to the vehicles, shooting at the cameras. He didn't want anyone to know that he had been here except for his boss. Tsuna didn't speak, letting himself get dragged along, too tired to think or pay attention to his surrounding, that was, until he heard a shattering sound. His mind came back to him as he saw shards of glass falling to the ground, clattering into more pieces, and looked up. Reborn's elbow pulled back and slammed again into the broken pieces, clearing it out for a better pathway into the car. When he decided that everything was good, he reached in to unlock the door to the driver's seat.

Tsuna stared. "W-What are you doing?"

"Get in." Reborn released him, shoving him around the vehicle, before heading back to the other side.

Tsuna, unable to argue nor did he have the strength to do so, did as he was told and slid into the front passage seat, after making sure that there was no glass on it, and watched as Reborn worked in wiring the car. When he heard the roar of the engine, the hitman shifted the stick and drove off down the road, basically speeding to get away. He shot down more cameras that would have caught them, hiding their identities. Luckily for them, no other cars were on the road, leaving it empty and deserted. Tsuna's eyes drifted out the window to the trees before looking ahead into the distance in front where he could see a mass of buildings getting closer. But he didn't recognize those buildings. No, the designs were different and the colors were far too bright. Throughout Japan, he had never seen anything like that before.

"Um…Reborn, where are we?"

The hitman passed a glance at him through the corner of his eyes before answering. "Venice, Italy. Where else?"

Tsuna blinked, letting the information sink in. "W-What? I-Italy?" the brunet swallowed, the color rushing out of his face and a cold sweat fell over him, he was trembling. Had he really become Vongola Decimo? He remembered that the headquarters of Vongola was in Italy, but that didn't explain about Reborn's odd slip of memory. Surely, he would be remembered. Unless… "Odd question…what year is it?"

The brunet was rewarded with another odd look and an eyebrow raise. The next few words left Tsuna flabbergasted.

"W-What? Are you sure that's the year?" Those honey-colored eyes were wide in shock, something that left Reborn confused. Tsuna stared down at his hands, his thoughts and mind going wild and began to mutter to himself. "B-But how? If I remember correctly, the ten year bazooka sends people to the future, not…not to the god…this is bad…And it's been over five minutes, too."

Reborn watched the teen from the corner of his eyes as he began talking to himself, eyes somewhat on the road. As he listened in, he caught certain words being mumbled and narrowed his eyes at that, listening further into the one-sided conversation. The kid was reinforcing Reborn's opinion of Tsuna being bizarre, but it perked up his interest, something that hasn't happened for a while. "Kid, what are you talking about? Don't you know where you are, much less, what year it is?"

Tsuna shook his head. He really didn't know anything much less what to do. He was in a foreign country in a different time with the only person he was familiar was going to torture him for information. God must really hate him…what did he ever do to deserve this fate?

Even though this was all interesting to the hitman, he'd have to wait until they arrive at a safe spot to talk. Now wasn't the time, they weren't out of trouble yet until they'd reached the city and blended into the crowd to disappear from all eyes. About thirty minutes of the ride was in silence, Tsuna was staring off into the distance, looking completely scared, and Reborn continued to steer the car. Once they reached the city outskirts, Reborn stopped the car to dump it into a pond behind a couple of trees and make a quick call to his boss to report his success. He didn't mention Tsuna at all, deciding that it was best that no one knew about what happened. There were too many unanswered questions, one he needed answers to first before anyone else. When he hung up, he turned back to Tsuna.

"We're heading towards my place."

"Okay...but why?"

"It's the best place and I want to get information out of you first before deciding on what to do with you."

Tsuna couldn't help but shiver at that, regardless, he followed behind.

Reborn, on the other hand, smirked at that response, tilting the fedora hat downward to the side as Leon shifted a little at the movement. They entered the city unnoticed, blending into the ever moving crowd with ease, wandering around buildings to cover themselves from any suspicious eyes. The sky guardian wanted to sigh heavily, he could probably run away right now and escape amongst the mass. But he wasn't suicidal enough to try and do something stupid like that and it wasn't as if he knew the area anyway, he'd only end up getting lost and if this Reborn was anything like the one in the future, he was certain that he'll be tracked down with ease.

'Ten years…to think I could have gone back in time…' Even with Tsuna's terrible fate right around the corner, his honey-colored eyes observed his surroundings eagerly, never having been to Italy before. He listened to the voices around him, not able to understand it Italian, and turned away to see something else. Turning to Reborn with questioning eyes, he asked. "Hey, Reborn, how come you can speak Japanese?"

Reborn glanced over. "It's for business," he tightened his grip on the boy and leaned over, whispering into Tsuna's ear. The smooth deep voice whispered cold words, ones that made the teen shiver at the coldness of the tone. He had never heard Reborn talk to him like that, it wasn't something he wanted either. "Don't mention what happened today to anyone or I'll kill you. You'll be joining those bodies if you don't keep your mouth shut."

Tsuna nodded, knowing that Reborn's threat wasn't something to take lightly, and muttered to himself. "I don't know who is scarier, the you next to me or the you in the future. Hmm…" the brunet tilted his head in thought. "Well, both of you like to make threats and try to kill me." he got another raised eyebrow from Reborn and sighed at the questioning glare. Reborn'd never liked being left in the dark and he would get his information sooner than later. "I guess I can go into details when we arrive at wherever we're going. I don't really understand what's going on all that well either, but I can explain my situation. I just hope you'll actually believe my nonsense."

Reborn nodded, not moving his head much for Leon's sake. It would have been pretty funny if the little lizard came sliding off. "We're almost there." he led himself and the brunet into a large alleyway and loosened his grip on the teen slightly. They were no longer in a crowded area, this was more open and there were less prying eyes. This area served as the living quarters and Tsuna could see the sheets and clothes being pinned to lines above his head to dry. There were shadows in the windows, people talking out in the streets and laughing, and children were running around playing in the streets. The buildings were scrunched up together in a row and soon Reborn stopped in front of a door.

Tsuna couldn't read the language on it and in all honesty, it looked like every other door on the street. However, considering Reborn's profession, he probably wanted to look somewhat normal to the populace. The hitman unlocked the door and stepped in, Tsuna following right behind. The entry way had an elevator, a stairway, and a front desk with a person standing there, politely nodding to the hitman while sending a questioning glance towards Tsuna at the same time. The sky guardian blinked at the look and continued to trail behind Reborn to the elevator, entering and getting out of the gaze that had been burning into his back.

As the elevator closed, he stared at his reflection for the duration of the short ride from the metal doors. The blood that had been on his shoes had been covered up by mud, same with Reborn. His appearance was disheveled and the top buttons of his school uniform had come loose with his hair sticking up more wildly than before. Raising a hand up, he trailed his fingers through his soft locks, smoothing out the uneven ends. When he decided that he looked good enough, his eyes trailed to Reborn, who looked no different from the first time Tsuna caught sight of him. The man, even as a baby, was always neat, no matter what. It wasn't fair, not at all. When the doors opened, they stepped out and walked a little bit further before Reborn started reaching for his keys once more, pulling them out from nowhere, and opened the door, pushing it to allow entrance.

In a gruff voice, he spoke, "This is my home."

Tsuna swallowed the thick lump that had formed in the back of his throat and stepped in, wondering if he'll be able to get out of this alive.


	3. Sleep

_In a gruff voice, he spoke, "This is my home."_

_Tsuna swallowed the thick lump that had formed in the back of his throat and stepped in, wondering if he'll be able to get out of this alive._

The sky guardian's eyes instantly noticed how neat the place looked. It appeared as if everything had just been cleaned, he couldn't see a speck of dust on the tables or items and there was one more thing that seemed quite obvious: it was how expensive everything was. There were paintings along the entrance corridor with a table on the side that had a vase with some fake flowers popping out, angled perfectly to allow all the flowers to be viewed.

Tsuna wandered into the living room that was at the end of the hallway, taking in the furniture that seemed to fit the space perfectly and complemented the curtains and other things scattered around. The color seemed to blend in and nothing was too bright or dark or stood out on its own. His eyes went to the kitchen that was connected to it with the dining room right next to it. The latter looked hardly used, but was kept perfectly clean with the table top shining and with a couple of green mats on top. Tsuna was tempted to reach out and touch a few things, but resisted, he wasn't sure on how Reborn would act especially if he accidently broke something. He was certain that he wouldn't be able to pay for any of this if he did. And either way, a mad Reborn was a scary Reborn.

"Sit," the older man commanded as he settled into the couch that was surrounding a small rectangular table. Another one was on the opposite side, allowing Tsuna a place to sit, and at the same time, not too close to the hit man. It was probably the furthest he could get from the trigger-happy man without being suspicious. "Now I think it's about time you start explaining what's been going on as well as to why you were there and how? And then there's the fact that you actually know who I am. You've been speaking to me as if you know me."

Tsuna shivered at the stare he was getting and shrunk at it. Adult Reborn is scary. "I don't think you'll believe me even if I did tell you. It sounds stupid even to me."

"And like I said before, try me."

The brunet sighed, it was now or never. If he was going to be killed, he might as tell the truth. "Well, for starters, I'm from…the future."

Reborn stared, looking for something and then scoffed, flicking his fedora upward slightly. "Now you're pulling my leg, tell the truth, or else."

Tsuna shivered, mentally sighing. He should have seen this coming. "N-No, really I am. Ten years to be exact. I was shot by the ten-year bazooka from the Bovino family, but there seems to be a problem with it since it sent me to the past instead of the future," Tsuna continued to get the stare that unnerved his every will and nerve in his body. It was a look that didn't show any emotion and was burning his body. But Reborn remained quiet and listened, eyes watching for any screw-up. "I'm S-S-Sawada Tsunayoshi from the future…a-and I only know you because you were assigned to me by my father, Iemitsu, to become my tutor…though you were in a baby form and still are."

"That still doesn't explain how you got there. I know a bit about the Ten-year bazooka and the device should have just switched you," Reborn scolded, picking at the loophole in the somewhat strange logic. "If you really are Sawada Tsunayoshi, then wouldn't you be in Japan then?"

"That's actually…the one thing I really don't get. I should have been switched with my five-year old self and the effect should have only lasted five minutes, but it's been…I'm not even going to count the time that has passed. I don't know how this could have happened…I mean, something like this occurred in the future, but this is the first time I've heard about the bazooka sending someone backwards," Tsuna looked at a clock that was hanging on the wall in the living room, watching the second hand tick away. It had been hours since his arrival, at this moment, he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to get back home normally. "I wonder if I can actually get back to my own time…" he muttered to himself, his face falling, and looked down at his hands that were clamping together in worry.

'What happens if I can't? Will I be stuck here forever? Will I be trapped with Reborn?'

Reborn raised an eyebrow at the expression Tsuna was making, observing all the fear and tension in the body, before sighing to himself. He had a strong feeling that this child was going to cause him trouble and bring a lot of it directly to him. Through experience and dealing with all sorts of people, Reborn could tell that Tsuna was telling the truth. He saw no indication that this child was telling any lies unless Tsuna was trained, but he highly doubted that.

Still, he couldn't prove anything and obviously neither could the teen. The whole thing seemed like some kind of dream that was getting close to ridiculous. But the kid was harmless…that was apparent. Reborn sighed again, standing up from his spot. He needed coffee, lots of it if he was going to deal with all this crap. Immediately after he moved, Tsuna froze in his mental process and looked up in question, those large eyes wide in dread.

"Stay here. Don't move or touch anything. If you dare try to leave his place, I'll hunt you down and shoot you. No second chances." the hitman reached over into his jacket to take out a real gun, not Leon, to show his point, letting the brunet soak in the fear of death. Tsuna paled at the sight and swallow nervously, shirking further into the couch as if trying to hide. There was no way he was going to disobey Reborn in this situation, he knew better. It was better to just keep his mouth shut and do as he's told if he wanted to remain alive long enough to get back home. As Reborn confirmed that Tsuna wasn't going to do anything stupid, he pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed a number he was familiar with, listening to the ringing. His black eyes remained on the kid for a few moments before leaving the room, but kept the door open slightly, about a few inches, to keep watch.

Tsuna, not daring or willing to get himself killed so soon, remained where he was at. His ears picked up on Reborn's strong Italian as he fluently spoke it over the phone. No matter how much he tried to listen, he didn't get a single word, though he was certain that Reborn was talking about him since he caught his name being used in the conversation a few times.

Groaning to himself, he leaned against the couch, the very soft and comfy couch…he sighed in happiness at the cool touch he felt against his skin after running all day, besides when he got into the car, it felt great to relax his aching feet. Tsuna nuzzled his face into the cushion, burying his body further into the couch. As he turned to the window, he noticed that it was dark outside, the sun had set long ago, and the stars were out high above, sparkling. As he relaxed and drifted off, he was slightly startled when Reborn began to yell at whoever was on the other side and blinked his eyes curiously before giving up again to lie down, settling into the pillow. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, it had been a rough day, more so than the usual mess he was regularly used to. Before he realized it, he closed his eyes and fell fast asleep on the pillow, dead to the world around him, exhaustion taking him completely.

A few moments later, Reborn came walking in with a frown on his lips, muttering about someone under his breath. His fedora was slanted downwards and he glanced towards the couch where the teen was supposed to be before pausing at the sight before his eyes. An eyebrow went up and he crossed his arms after pocketing his cell phone away before quietly stepping closer.

Towering over the teen, his black eyes wandered over the body and leaned over, his hand outstretch with the intent to shake the teen awake before stopping. A soft sign of content escape Tsuna's lip, nestling himself further into the pillow, gripping to it like no tomorrow. Reborn snorted at the scene and unfolded his arms to place them on his waist, trying to think of what to do now. He could let Tsuna sleep here, but that would allow the teen to be out of his watchful eyes. Sighing deeply, he kneeled down to shuffle Tsuna gently into his arms, making sure that the sky guardian didn't wake up at the slightest jerk.

'He's light…' Reborn thought to himself as he held the other in his arms and headed towards the backrooms. He managed to get Tsuna to drop the pillow after forcing it out of his grip, however, his movement had created a stir for Tsuna. The brunet muttered a few words under his breath before leaning closer towards Reborn's chest, unknowingly rubbing his check against him.

Reborn watched with interest then glanced up towards the direction of Leon. "Don't say a thing." he grumbled, watching the lizard's eyes turn away from him and crawled down his arm to stare at the brunet. Ignoring the curiosity Leon had shining in his eyes, Reborn strolled down a corridor that was beside the kitchen and used the side of his body to push the door open that was on the right. The other door on the left led to the bathroom and the one he had just entered was his bedroom. With his brilliant skills, he managed to put the boy down and removed some of Tsuna's articles of clothing like his shoes and school vest before pulling the covers over the tiny body. He then wandered around the room, getting ready for bed, wanting to get some rest after a long day. He knew there would be more to come in the morning, especially when that idiot of a man showed up.

As he finished his nightly routine, he pulled over a chair to the bed, a comfortable one, and sat down with his legs propped up on the bed, crossed. Reborn stared at the sleeping teen in front of him before pushing his fedora downward to cover his couldn't afford to take his eyes off of him, no matter what. It didn't take long for him to doze off soon after. His eyes, however, were still wide open and the slightest sound instantly woke him up. Leon rested on the rim of his hat, eyes closed shut.

The questioning would just have to continue in the morning.

++++++++++++++++++++

The morning sun was unforgiving as it beamed through the shades of the windows and into the room, warming everything it touched. The lights that touched anything were reflected, bouncing off to hit something else, sending rays into different directions either as a single line or multiple colors. With the sun high in the air, people stirred from their slumber and began their day. Sounds of them shuffling outside were faint since the building was away from the main street but it was still loud enough to travel. Tsuna squirmed a little in the warm covers as the light hit his eyes and immediately turned away, burying himself in the sheets, perfectly and completely content. This had to be the best morning he had ever had or, at least, the most peaceful one he had for a long time. It was kinda…strange. He had gotten used to the rude awakenings and screaming that came with it from those staying in his silence as a lot different and he enjoyed it greatly, wanting nothing more than to ravish this moment for all its worth.

That was until he realized that this wasn't really his bed and that there was no way he could ever be allowed to sleep in like this.

Slowly, Tsuna opened his eyes wearily, shifting them back and forth frantically as the memories of yesterday caught up with him. It was almost like some had struck him hard in realization. 'That's right…I'm stuck in the past…'

His eyes wandered about the room, not recognizing it, and noted the alarm clock that was on the nightstand, the numbers bright and red. On the other side of the room, there were a couple of books stacked neatly in a bookshelf that was to the side, all in a foreign language.

'Is this…Reborn's room?'

Eventually, his eyes landed on the sleeping man beside him and blinked in question, wondering why the hitman was staying there of all places. Reborn had his arms folded across his chest, his fedora covering his eyes from view, and breathing softly. His chest was rising and falling gently and seemed quite relaxed in his present state. Tsuna leaned further in, too used to seeing the baby version having a bubble when sleeping with his eyes wide open. It was creepy and the brunet wanted to see if the adult version would have the same, but no, the eyes were closed shut. It was different.

The brunet continued to stare, carefully sitting up so not to wake the other up, but no matter what he did, that single movement where he had rustled the sheets, Reborn jolted awake. Those eyelids snapped open, the eyes focusing for a split second before turning them towards Tsuna immediately. Lifting his head up slightly, Reborn watched as the teen flinched back in surprise at the glare he gave.

"Finally awake I see." Reborn huffed, loosening his arms from their previous position and flicked his hat upward into its original position. This small action stirred Leon from his slumber, two beady eyes opening up, and a tongue flicked outwards in confusion.

Tsuna nodded slowly to that, fully wide awake with the hitman glaring at him, and smiled nervously in hopes of diffusing the tension of the room. "G-Good morning…" he glanced around and then down at his fingers, which was clenching into the bed sheets tightly as if they were life-support, and watched as his skin color turned slightly white from how hard he was holding. "You know…you could have left me on the couch. I wouldn't have mind."

"Then that would be allowing you out of my sight," Reborn grumbled, standing up from the chair to get some blood moving. Parts of his body cracked at the sudden movement seeing as he had been in that same position all night long and it felt good to get that pressure off. Twisting his neck slightly, Reborn let out a little grunt in approval and the way he did it just seemed…natural…was that even possible? Well, considering that this was Reborn, the man could do anything perfectly. "I have to keep a constant eye on you. I'm not giving you any chances to escape or play any tricks."

"Oh…" Tsuna already knew that doing anything against Reborn was a very, very bad idea, one he had absolutely no plans of trying. And why would he leave? He knew nothing about this time, much less Italy. He couldn't even speak the language. The only person he has was Reborn. Sighing to himself, he slid his legs over the bed, letting them hang downwards. While Reborn got himself situated, Tsuna remained still, waiting for his orders if there were any. The two refused to talk to each other, not sparing an extra glance as they tried to figure out what to do next. Their answer occurred when a rumbling sound broke through the room loudly.

"Ah…" Tsuna blushed in embarrassment and placed a hand on his stomach, hoping that that would help calm it down, well aware that Reborn was now staring at him. Mentally cursing himself, he had completely forgotten about eating and had just fallen asleep the moment he arrived here. His stomach growled again, this time a little muffled by his hand, but it didn't help much. Rotating away just as the black eyes came back to stare in his direction for a second time, his face burned bright red and wasn't sure how Reborn of this time would react. The Reborn from ten years in the further would have made a witty and insulting comment on him and then proceed to kick him a few times to keep him in line. But what was this Reborn going to do? Tsuna paled at the thought. He knew for a fact that Reborn would kill him without a second thought and that actually scared him.

"This way."

Tsuna peered up through his bangs to see Reborn opening the bedroom door to the hallway, his mind unable to help but wonder what was happening. The hitman never acted like this and he didn't get much of a chance to ponder on it as he immediately stood to follow, not wanting to be left behind. Luckily for him, they ended up in the kitchen.

Taking off his hat, Reborn placed it on the counter top, revealing his spiky black hair that was tucked underneath it. Even the fedora wasn't enough to help tame those locks from sticking up much like Tsuna's hair. The curly sideburns were more obvious to the eyes and bounced slightly at each step. Tsuna, for some odd reason, chuckled to himself. There really wasn't much difference between the two, but that still left him with some questions. Why was this Reborn so much older? Shouldn't he be a baby? It didn't make any sense at all but now that he thought about it, most of the time his life didn't make much sense either. Time-traveling, gun-wielding babies, magical boxes, all of those would appear to be impossible to any normal person but Tsuna has lived it all. Should he be included with that list of weirdoes too? After all, he was being trained to become the boss of a mafia family.

"What's so funny?" Reborn glared, stopping in front of the refrigerator just he had reached out to open it.

Tsuna swallowed, he had been heard."N-Nothing, sorry," he waved his hands frantically in front of him, scared of what the other might do to him. And he knew for a fact that it wouldn't be pleasant. Reborn studied the teen a little longer before turning away and grasped the handle to open the refrigerator door. A cold burst of air hit him instantly and he reached in to pull out a carton of eggs, placing it onto the counter top with a soft tap. Tsuna, now sitting in one of the stools since the kitchen was in an island style, watched the older man with interest. "Umm…"

"You're hungry, right?" the hitman stated as if it was the most obvious thing, cracking the eggs onto a pan that had come from one of the bottom cabinets. The insides spilled out, flattening out on the hard surface. As that occurred, Reborn flickered on the stove, letting the blue fire heat the pan from below.

Tsuna hesitated in nodding but did so. "W-What are you making?"

"Omelets."

"O-Okay…" Leaning against the marble top, Tsuna's caramel eyes were unable to leave the man on the other side of the island, watching every move with interest. He had never seen Reborn cook before, actually, the hitman had never cooked for anyone. As Reborn wandered around the kitchen to grab a couple more ingredients, he mixed it into the pan and used a spatula to mix everything with smooth movements.

The teen went deep into thoughts, thinking about the differences between the two people, that he hadn't noticed a plate being placed before him until he could smell the food that was radiating off of it. Tsuna looked at it curiously then up at the hitman, blinking his eyes in wonder. So Reborn could actually cook for himself… As he thought that, the hitman gave him a glass of water while he, himself, got a cup of espresso. "T-Thanks…"

Reborn didn't reply, taking his fork, which he had laid out during Tsuna's little daydream, and began eating. Tsuna hesitated for a moment, wondering if the food was safe since he wouldn't be surprised if the hitman thought it would be funny to watch him choke, but in the end, followed suit. He stabbed into the mixture of eggs, meat, and vegetables and slowly brought up a piece up to his mouth, hoping that this bite won't be his last. As the taste fell onto his tongue, Tsuna paused for a moment before licking his lips. It's good. Not as good as Mom's, but close enough. He smiled sadly at the thought as he remembered his own time period.

Would anyone notice his disappearance? Well, he was sure his friends would since they liked to visit him every day but would the Reborn in his time actually care? Would he even notice?

Tsuna felt his mood dampening as those thoughts continued to pour into his mind like a broken dam and continued to eat to keep his mind off the subject, letting him drift to the food and how good it is. The silence between the two was painful but the sky guardian couldn't bring himself to break it. He was still frightened to death by the adult version of Reborn.

"How old are you?"

The brunet snapped his head up, surprised, wondering if what he had heard was just his imagination. Was Reborn really talking to him? "W-What?"

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the older man asked again. "I said 'How old are you'?"

"O-Oh…I'm fifteen."

Reborn raised an eyebrow, taking in the teen's form and especially the height, before smirking evilly. "You're short for a fifteen-year-old."

"S-Shut up!"

Tsuna grumbled as his face turned bright red in anger, going back to finishing off his meal so that he could leave and get out of sight of thosegrinning eyes. He placed the dishes into the sink and stared into the once empty area, wondering what he was supposed to do next. By habit, he turned on the faucet to rinse the plate clean and shut it off just as Reborn finished up his own. The hitman snuck behind the teen and let his arm wrap around Tsuna's body, placing the plate inside. Of course, Tsuna reacted and jumped back, turning slightly red and at the same time pale at the terrible thoughts the other might do. Another smirk made its way up onto Reborn's lips and he retracted back to grab his fedora, letting the hat settle comfortably onto his hair.

As the two stared at each other, the doorbell decided to ring at that was a short chime but it was enough to snap the two's attention towards its direction, both going alert.

Reborn tilted his hat after a few seconds, heading away from the kitchen. "He got here pretty fast."

'He?' Tsuna mentally screamed. 'Who's he?'


	4. Arrived

_As the two stared at each other, the doorbell decided to ring at that moment. It was a short chime, but it was enough to snap the two's attention towards its direction, both going alert._

_Reborn tilted his hat after a few seconds, heading away from the kitchen. "He got here pretty fast."_

_'He?' Tsuna mentally screamed. 'Who's he?'_

The hitman glanced at the teen for a moment, finding the startled and scared look endearing, while motioning him to follow behind. For a second, Tsuna didn't follow and just stood there frozen, thinking to himself about what could occur in a matter of minutes. Who was the person? Reborn didn't call anyone to take him away, did he? He shivered at that thought and hoped that this Reborn wouldn't send him away. The hitman was the only person he knew in Italy and, though the other didn't share the same feeling, trusted.

Tsuna swallowed quietly and quickly gathered up the courage to step forward, shuffling his feet as he followed. As they entered the living room, Reborn suddenly pointed to the couch without a word and gave a glare as if demanding him to do something. However, the brunet hadn't caught said look and simply stared back dumbly, tilting his head slightly to the side in confusion, not sure what he had done to earn the older man's wrath. Reborn sneered in irritation and took matters into his own hands, shoving Tsuna onto the couch, watching as the teen landed onto the cushions stomach first. There was a loud squeak and some grumbling of limbs before Tsuna managed to turn around to peer up with curious eyes.

"W-What was that for?" Tsuna grumbled, stretching his feet off the couch to give him leverage to sit up.

"Just sit there." As soon as those words left his mouth, the hitman rotated away and went towards the door, ducking a little to peek through the hole to see who it was. Tsuna tried to lean over to see what was going on, but got nothing. There was a wall in the way and sighed to himself, flopping back to relax against the couch beforeperking up slightly when he heard the door opening up, the hinges creaking.

Tsuna remained rooted to his spot and tried to focus on listening to the voices. He noticed that there was only one extra person by the sounds of the voices, or at least, that's what he heard. If there were others, he didn't know and listened as footsteps started coming his way with the door shutting close right behind. The brunet swore, he recognized that voice and it made him tense in anger…but why would he be angry, it didn't make sense. Still the familiarity of that voice didn't leave him alone, no, it bothered him greatly like it was something irritating or a buzzing mosquito around his head. Why did he suddenly feel like he wanted to punch whoever it was?

As the two entered the living room, Tsuna's eyes widened for a moment before he blenched, grinding his teeth together as he tried to keep himself together. It wouldn't be good if he started calling him out and so soon, he could already see the results of that: a barrel of a gun in his face. Why did everything he does wrongly result in death?

'Dad…' He almost wanted to jump up from his seat to hide and get away, but he had been ordered to sit in his spot, Reborn was after all much scarier in his adult form. The two older men were talking to each other, both speaking Italian, as they stepped into the living room. When Iemitsu saw him, the blonde paused for a moment, blinking, and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Tsuna swallowed and raised a hand up while trying to restrain his anger at his father. "Hello."

Iemitsu blinked his eyes again at the sight then suddenly smirked. He changed into speaking Japanese quickly and nudged Reborn at the side good humor. "Hey, don't tell me you've switched for the other team and so young too!" He laughed, patting Reborn on the back, which was quickly shoved aside, the hitman taking a step back to put some distance between them. The other didn't take it offensively and continued to laugh.

Reborn felt like smacking his forehead at the idiocy before him, tempted to pull his gun out to put a few bullets in the man's head only to shut him up. "What the hell are you talking about? And shut up already, your voice annoys me. I called you here because of _him_."

Tsuna tilted his head at his father's words. What did he mean by that? He didn't get it.

Suddenly, Iemitsu got serious and stared at the teen on the couch. There was a moment where they locked eyes, Tsuna's never wavering, and for a split second, he spotted a brief moment of hatred before it disappeared. Thinking it was just his imagination, he wrote it off and turned back to the hitman. "Are you telling me you called me from base because of a kid?"

"Well, this 'kid' is claiming to be your son," Reborn sighed, settling down on the couch next to Tsuna, who shifted away in fear, but not too far since he'd rather deal with the one next to him than his own father. The hitman narrowed his eyes for a moment as he recognized that hesitant and edging before pushing it back, folding his legs. "He's claiming that he's from the future, ten years to be exact."

Iemitsu gawked at the hitman as if he had grown another head then turned to Tsuna again, trying to further examine the teen. His eyes drifted up and down, looking over every little detail and didn't speak for a few moments, just…staring in disbelief after finishing his examination. Tsuna could tell right away that his father hadn't believed a single word that came out of Reborn's mouth. Not that he blamed him, he was sure he wouldn't believe anyone if they told him the same thing. Wait…he took that back. Tsuna probably would, with the amount of chaos in his life, after all, if someone could travel forward in time, why not backwards? Iemitsu finally raised an eyebrow and spoke to break the silence. "And you seriously believe him? This could all be some stupid hoax from an enemy famiglia." The man sat down on the other side, gazing at the teen once more before turning to the hitman.

It took a moment for the hitman to answer, taking a quick glance the brunet. "He doesn't look like the type to lie. I have a feeling he's telling the truth. My gut has never lied to me before, shouldn't now."

The CEDEF leader scratched his head, looking closer once more, and Tsuna simply shrunk down further, hating be looked at like he was some sort of rare animal, much less by his own father. Though Iemitsu was younger, it was too obvious to tell who the man was, and he wondered how his mother was doing in Japan all alone taking care of him. Just the thought of seeing this idiot of a father here was irritating. As for the blonde, he continued his examination, making sure not to miss anything. While it was true that he could see a strong resemblance to his five-year-old son, especially in the eyes and hair. No, Tsuna took after Nana more so than himself, that thin, small appearance and peach-colored skin. If he didn't know, he swore that this teen could be a male version of his lovely wife with a small hint of himself mixed in. But regardless of his thoughts, time travel couldn't be possible, well, Vongola didn't have it, maybe another family did. The most surprising to the blonde was that Reborn seemed to believe in this teen's words.

Tsuna sighed, this was really bad. He knew it was bad. His own father didn't believe him, much less recognized an older version of his son before his very eyes. Well, considering the man was never home in the first place, the only thing that told him about his son was through pictures and probably Nana's letters. His father was hopeless. He knew absolutely nothing about his five-year-old son. The only person who was somewhat on his side was Reborn and that was a little farfetched.

He fumbled with his fingers, nervous from all the looks he was getting from the two adults in the room, almost wanting to shiver under the gazes, until he brushed against something. Wanting to turn his eyes somewhere away from the men, he glanced down at a familiar ring that was resting on his middle finger, feeling the familiar harmony flames burn within it that had been produced from his body. 'Wait…! That's right! The sky ring!'

The sky guardian brought it up closer to his face and smiled in relief, knowing he had found a loop within this mess. This ring could be his ticket out and offer an explanation. "Um…" He muttered, catching the two men's attention immediately. Their eyes were watching him carefully, waiting for his response, and both remained quiet to listen. "I know that this is quite impossible to believe and it probably sounds like the craziest thing you've ever heard of and I really don't blame either of you for thinking like that. But I really am from ten years in the future. I'm your fifteen-year-old son, Sawada Tsunayoshi," He pulled off the ring on his finger and held it out on the palm of his hand. "You gave a part of this to me, well, not directly, since you asked Dino-san to deliver it, but you entrusted it to me none the less. It's now complete after battling for the other half, but I think that this is the only proof I can offer."

Using his will and power, the sky ring came to life, the bright orange flames glowing at the tip. It burned so brilliantly that Tsuna couldn't help but stare in awe at it. Reborn's eyes widened for a split second, that flame, it was pure, too pure, and he sensed a deep power and will radiating from it. He smirked at the thought, staring at the hand.

Iemitsu's eyes simply widened at the sight, immediately reaching forward to grasp the ring, not even bothering to examine the sensation it brought over him. The flame died instantly as if blown out just by his mere touch. It was as if it had rejected him. He pulled the ring towards his face, examining it carefully. "This is…" He then up at Tsuna and then back down. His shocked expression soon turned into a large grin. "You really are…You really are my son. There's no mistaking it!"

Reborn straightened his back instantly, he was out of the loop and he didn't like that. He grinded his teeth together as the CEDEF leader began to mutter things to himself happily. "Wait. Tell me what's going on. What does this ring mean?"

Iemitsu twisted to the hitman with…was that sparkles in his eyes? Reborn twitched at the sight, why did he just feel he wanted to punch the other? "Don't you get it?"

Tsuna flinched as he watched his father jump around in happiness. He should have seen this coming and yet, it left a dark feeling in his heart. His father only recognized him through a stupid ring. He shook his head before he allowed such terrible thoughts to go any further in his mind.

"This ring proves it. It proves that he's the next Vongola Boss!" Iemitsu cried out in happiness and instantly reached into his pocket for his wallet, pulling out a picture from inside, and kissed it. The man began to speak utter nonsense to the picture, waving it around franticly like he had won the lottery. Tsuna could see pink hearts fluttering around his father and sighed, leaning back into the couch. He knew better than to try and snap the man's attention back to normal.

Reborn just remained quiet and watched as his higher up act like a complete and utter fool. His eyes, however, did catch the sight of the picture, spotting the wife and son, and noted that the child in it only looked like he was around two or three. It was an old picture, outdated to the current age of five. He turned to Tsuna, who was grumbling some words with some sharpness that was obvious directed at the older man, and could see the resemblance between the child and the teen beside him despite the age difference. They looked exactly the same. And the ring…Tsuna was really the next heir…To think he was sitting next to the future boss of Vongola made him want to raise an eyebrow.

Iemitsu went on in the background, leaving the two in their thoughts.

Tsuna stared at his feet. "Dad acts the same…"

Reborn glanced over at that, noting the anger in the voice, but didn't voice it out. "You're telling me that he still acts like this in the future?" He watched as the brunet nod his head in disappointment and sighed at the answer. It took a little while longer before Iemitsu finally calmed down enough to sit on the couch without any more hearts fluttering about him. He managed to explain a few things about what the ring meant to Reborn and gave the item back to Tsuna, who quickly placed it back on his finger. The flame came back to life as if welcoming him. Reborn tapped his fedora at the tip. "I guess he'll need to see Nono."

"Yeah, that's right. After all, he needs to know what's happening. I can give you a ride there sometime tomorrow. Today, I'll need to head back to let them know what's going on so that they can prepare. Oh, and you'll be staying there with me until we can figure out a way to return you back to your time. It'll be safer there than here too. Plus, scary Reborn here can't harass you anymore, isn't that great?" Iemitsu was grinning, ignoring the twitch on the hitman's left eye.

"I'd like to stay with Reborn."

The two men blinked and stared at the brunet. The blonde was silent for almost a minute before breaking out into laughter. "That's funny, for a moment I thought I heard you'd rather stay with Reborn of all people. That's a hilarious joke."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at that, the man was starting to grate on his nerves. "I wasn't joking," That got Iemitsu to shut up. Slowly, the brunet turned towards the hitman with a hopeful expression. "I'd like to stay with you, Reborn, that is, if it's okay with you." In the back of Tsuna's mind, his thoughts were going rapid, he'd rather stay with his scary future tutor than go anywhere with his father. 'Please say yes, please say yes, please say-'

Almost as if reading Tsuna's mind, Reborn sighed. "I'm alright with it. You can stay with me," The hitman then turned a glare toward the fool of a man, irritated that he had been insulted. "And I can provide better protection than those idiots you have on base."

The smile on the brunet's face almost brightened up the room, grinning ear to ear in happiness. Reborn stared, why did he suddenly feel like he had done the right thing? "Thank you!"

Iemitsu, on the other hand, didn't look so pleased. "You can't be serious! You'd rather stay here with Reborn than your own father?"

Tsuna didn't dare answer that honestly. "I feel…safer with Reborn." The brunet caught the hitman's eyes staring at him, knowing he would probably have to reveal some things pretty soon. Reborn wasn't going to remain quiet on something like this.

Regardless, the answer seemed to satisfy the blonde, and sighed heavily. "Fine, fine, you can stay with Reborn," Tsuna smiled in victory at that. "Still, we still need to figure out how to get you back to your timeline."

"W-Wait…I think I'll end up heading back home normally. Eventually the effect of the bazooka is going to wear off," Tsuna stated, looking a little depressed, and then nodded to himself as if reassuring his decision. "It has to."

"If that's what you believe," The blonde didn't know how to interact with the teenager before, he was too different compared to his cute little boy. But people could change over time, he should have expected and known that his child would grow up sooner or later. "Ah, that's right. Reborn, you need to report in your last mission. Since we're all heading to the same place, we can go together, it'll be much easier."

Reborn huffed quietly to himself, eyes peeking out from underneath his fedora. He didn't like the idea of going to the Vongola base, there were too many people for his liking and many of them liked to glare at him whenever he passed by. Not everyone liked his skills even though he was the number one hitman in the world. Of course, no one dared to say that to his face, not unless they wanted to have a bullet in the forehead. Tsuna, not sure of what to do, looked between the two. "You can take him there yourself. I don't really want to head back yet. I have a couple more days before I need to report."

Iemitsu raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have other things to report, too?"

"I can do that later, too."

"Reborn…"

Tsuna stared and watched the two as they suddenly argued in Italian though Reborn simply remained where he was at, looking like he was high and mighty, while Iemitsu stood up to yell. He couldn't believe what was happening before him, he had never seen Reborn argue with… _anyone_! Everyone he knew just followed his orders without question, even himself (though he did complain a lot).

Finally, Reborn huffed and turned to the side. " _Fine_."

There was a grin on the older man, one of victory. He glanced to Tsuna and gave a thumbs-up. Tsuna just stared in shock. Reborn had been defeated in a verbal battle. Had that really just happened? What…the…hell? Reborn never lost in anything. Iemitsu leaned over. "Reborn will be coming with us to Vongola base. I can't wait to tell people about you, I knew any son of mine would be someone great!"

Tsuna sighed at that, his father returning back to that idiotic self. "O-Okay. But um…Dad, I honestly don't think a lot of people should know about me showing up."

Iemitsu gave a confused look then smiled softly when he put the pieces together. "You're right, no one should know about this. It could really throw everyone off and endanger the current you more than before," He glanced down at his watch, checking the time real quick, before taking a step towards the door. "Don't worry, I'll handle everything for you Tsuna, but I better get going right now. I would love to stay longer and chat, but I left without really telling anyone. I bet they are all calling me right now, demanding where I went. It was good to see you, future-version son of mine! Stay cute!"

"W-What?" Tsuna cried, jumping onto his feet. His face was a deep dark shade of red, clearly embarrassed at his father's words. Reborn remained where he was, watching as the father and son interacted. It was funny to say at the least, but he knew better than to simply see the exterior of things, the inter turmoil within the brunet was far too obvious.

As the CEDEF leader waved goodbye, closing the door behind him, he still had that ridiculous grin on his face and Tsuna was actually tempted to throw something at him, but the teen remained where he was at and groaned to himself in misery. His father was always like this whenever he was around. Couldn't he act serious for once?

Reborn got up while Tsuna was still deep in thought, heading towards the door to lock it. He sighed, he should have known better than to call Iemitsu, but he was the only one that could truly recognize whether or not that the kid was Tsunayoshi Sawada. So far, even before calling the older man, Tsuna had given him no doubt in his mind about his identity and anything they had spoken about. It was obvious to his experienced eyes and ears that Tsuna was an honest person, not much of a liar and far too kind. Someone that didn't belong to the dark world.

As Reborn stepped away from the door, he shook his head. The current Tsuna would change eventually. The darkness he dwelled in would soon force an all-round good-natured kid to murder and lie. Reborn tilted his fedora downward, letting it further shadow his face. It was sad to see the ones that were generally kindhearted and compassionate turn into something evil, like a burning flame that once illuminated the darkness being snuffed out. It was…depressing. 'What am I thinking?' Reborn muttered to himself and rotated back to Tsuna, who had now settled into the couch again. He went closer, a question that had been previously running in his mind surfacing upward. "You don't like your father."

Tsuna flinched before letting his shoulders sag. "Yeah, I guess you can say that," At the continuous stare Reborn gave him, he knew the other wanted more. "I can never respect my father nor love him. He left my mother all on her own for so long, I can't forgive him for that."

"Tsuna, your father is the leader of CEDEF, he has important duties to fulfill."

At that, the brunet snapped his head up angrily, looking positively livid. "It doesn't matter! Those are just excuses. Reborn, in the future you told me that family is the most important thing! It doesn't matter what happens! Family will always be the top priority. So a true boss should be able to balance out both sides, never sacrificing one for the other. And if such a thing were to occur, it should my job to make sure it doesn't or fix it!"

For a moment, Tsuna thought he saw a flitter of delight in those black eyes, but it was gone before he could fully register the emotion. Reborn smirked in approval of the lecture and turned slightly to side. Tsuna was absolutely correct, the boy really did have a good heart. 'If he were to truly become Vongola Decimo, then I know Vongola will change upon his leadership. I can see it already. This boy will become someone brilliant, and to think I'm the tutor who made him like that.' Reborn ignored the sense of proudness in his heart and spoke. "Yes, you're absolutely correct."

Tsuna blinked for a moment before breaking out into a grin.

The hitman chuckled and flicked his fedora upward. "Well, since you wanted to stay with me so much, you're stuck here until you head back home."

"Looks like it," Tsuna smiled weakly. "Sorry for imposing and making you have to come along because of my father."

Reborn raised an eyebrow at the kindness and shook his head, not sure to having such things directed at him. "It's fine. I don't really mind all that much. Anyway, there are actually a couple of reasons as to why Iemitsu wanted me to come along. There are only a handful of people that can speak Japanese at the headquarters. Another is to keep any eye on you since some of the people at the base aren't all that pleasant."

"O-Oh…"

The hitman wandered about the room, knowing that Tsuna was watching him with interest, examining his every move. For the brunet, he still wasn't entirely used to seeing Reborn in his adult form, being taller than him, and more imposing. It was so unusual…but with this new perspective of his future tutor, Tsuna had to admit, he was beginning to see why all the girls liked him so much. The Reborn before him was really handsome and knew his way with words, now, if only the other would change that horrible attitude then perhaps existing with him wouldn't be so bad. After all, he really didn't appreciate being tortured every single day and pulled along into schemes against his will. Plus, it seemed like the adult version wasn't entirely bad, scary yes, but he didn't do anything the normal Reborn did to him. He just got glares and guns pointed at him, no wait, that one was normal, too.

"Since I've gained some free time because of you, what would you like to do?" Reborn folded his arms, deciding to lean against a wall that was next to a large balcony window. Leon moved from his spot on the right of the fedora, shifting to the opposite side to get a better view of the room.

Tsuna blinked, realizing that the question had been directed at him. "I'm not sure. I've never been to Italy before."

Reborn glanced up at that with an eyebrow raised curiously. "Never been here? Aren't you Vongola Decimo?"

"Yes, officially, but currently Nono is still leading the mafia until I graduate from high school. Truthfully, I wished I had nothing to do with this."

"That's a little late now."

"I know…" Tsuna sighed. "I've been arguing about it since the first day I meet you, but you wouldn't let me run away from it. You kept putting me into positions I really didn't want to be in, putting me into situations that were scary and dangerous. But I guess it's because of all you did that I managed to become someone else instead of being just Dame-Tsuna. I was able to make some really close friends and talk to people I normally wouldn't, in a sense, I grew up. I know you know nothing about this, but I've always wanted to say 'thank you', but you always make it so hard. And of course, telling you that to your face would make you smirk in that victory-type manner. And…wait! Why am I telling you all about this anyway? You don't know anything!" Tsuna jumped from his spot to look at Reborn directly with a pout. The man's facial expression was blank, but Tsuna knew better, after being around Reborn for so long, he could pick out things here and there. He had to if he wanted to survive.

As he looked closer to the hitman's face, he noticed that there were some emotions running through those dark eyes, leaving Tsuna unable to tear his gaze away. Adult Reborn was really too handsome for his own good. He wondered about those curls, would they bounce if he were to pull at them? He shifted closer to look and tilted his head. Reborn was still staring into space, deep in thoughts from those words Tsuna had spoken earlier.

Eventually, the brunet called out in concern, wondering if he had say or done something wrong. "Reborn…?" Tsuna was just a few inches away, his face scrunched up as he observed the older man carefully.

Hearing his name being spoken, the hitman snapped out of his trance and looked down. He blinked at realizing just how close the other had gotten, ignoring every instinct to shove Tsuna back or move away. Surprised summed everything up, a little shock, though he won't show it, by how close the teen had gotten without him knowing. No one had ever gotten that close without him being aware of it. His black eyes stared, narrowing somewhat. "Yes?"

"N-Nothing…" The sky guardian backed away, looking a little scared for a moment. Had he really said something wrong for Reborn to act this way?

"Alright." Reborn raised an eyebrow, finding Tsuna suspicious, but he had more important things to deal with, like his own thoughts. Pushing them aside for now, he took a quick glance up a clock for the time and gave a small hum, it was getting close to lunch. "How about we go out to eat? It'll give you a chance to look around the city."

"Are you sure?" Tsuna was now staring at his future tutor apprehensively, wondering if the older man was going to turn this little trip into a lecture or educational learning. And here he thought he had been spared.

"Yeah, why not?" Reborn grabbed his keys, pocketing them momentarily, while taking Tsuna at the arm and nudged him forward to follow. "Plus, you'll need some extra clothes, too. You can't wear that forever and I doubt any of mine are going to fit you. That and we need more groceries. There are now two people to feed instead of one."

Tsuna flinched. That sounded like a lot of money, money he definitely didn't have.

As if reading his thoughts, Reborn smirked. "Don't worry, I've got more than enough money." He chuckled in amusement at the reddening face, knowing Tsuna was pouting at being read so easily. Shoving the teen out the door, he locked it behind him and started making his way down the hallway towards the elevator, Tsuna following beside him. His sharp black eyes keep a firm lookout for any trouble, though he knew he could take care of himself easily, but with Tsuna now added to his protection, he couldn't afford any mishaps. Vongola Decimo's endangerment could mean the end to Vongola itself and he'd like to avoid smearing his good name because of something like that.

As they stepped into the elevator, passing some people on the way out before entering the streets, Tsuna paused a bit when the sun hit his eyes and rose up a hand to block the sharp light. He couldn't see anything for a moment, but as his eyes slowly adjusted to it, he blinked a couple times, watching as his vision clear up. It was warm outside and he was glad that he wasn't wearing his vest. Tsuna took a deep breath of the air, feeling it expending his chest and lungs, and smiled to himself. There was a difference between the air in Japan and the one here in Italy, it was clearer in a sense, not as industrialized as home. When Reborn began to walk down the street, hands in his pockets, Tsuna continued to trail beside him, his eyes wandering over everything he could caught and see.

"Tsunayoshi."

"Tsuna," The teen cut in. "Just call me Tsuna."

"Alright then Tsuna, are you able to fight?"

Tsuna blinked before nodding his head. "Yeah, I have my gloves and pills on me."

Reborn flicked his fedora instead of responding to that, not sure on how he was supposed to (pills?) and just continued onwards. If the teen could fight, then hopefully he wouldn't have to do too much. It wasn't really his thing to save people. "Then you should be aware that being with me brings danger to your life, correct? Some will try to take advantage of the fact that I now have a kid following me around."

The brunet didn't answer at first, thinking for a few moments, before shaking his head. "Yeah, I guess I should have expected that. But I think I've had it worse or, at least, more powerful opponents than anyone I'll meet here since plenty of dangerous people have come after me in my time. People like Verde and Xanxus."

Reborn snapped his head back. "I understand Verde, but Xanxus? He went after you?"

"Yeah, he wanted the position of Vongola Decimo and I was in the way of that so he tried to kill me. I managed to defeat him, just barely though. There were also a couple of others like Byakuran from the future, which would be twenty years from now. He wanted to take over the world, control the Tri-Ni-Set, and everything. And he did. I was killed off, the Arcobaleno were wiped out, no, slaughtered, the Vongola was being hunted, but by some miracle and with some outside help, my friends and I were able to stop that. It was…" Tsuna trailed off, the memories of that time were still fresh in his mind. He still couldn't get over the fact that Yuni had sacrificed herself to save them and give them a peaceful future. Shaking his head, he moved on. "There were those that once tried to kill me too, Mukuro and Hibari-san, but in the end, they became my allies and a part of my guardians, mist and cloud. Well, Mukuro wants to possess my body to destroy the world while Hibari-san just wants to beat me, up but they're both extremely powerful. Though I wish they would turn that strength away from me and each other."

Reborn glanced over at that, noticing the fond smile on Tsuna's lips. They had just entered the main path where a large mass of people were located, crowding the streets.

"Ah, well, Mukuro and Hibari-san are enemies, they basically hate each other. It's sometimes a pain in the butt since they'd rather fight each other than the enemy in front. but they're both good people, it's just a little hard to see that."

"Since we're on the topic of guardians, what about the others?"

"Well, my storm guardian is Gokudera Hayato, or is it Hayato Gokudera since we're not in Japan? Anyway, he's really protective of me, sometimes a little too much and instead tries to suffocate me, but he's really a good guy. He always tries his best to make me happy and he's really smart, too."

"Gokudera?" Reborn muttered under his breath, he recognized that name, but didn't want to ask questions on it. This was the best chance to learn a few things about the future and what he should do for his future role. It was odd and slightly uncomfortable to hear about it, his future, but he couldn't deny how insightful it was at the same time.

"My rain guardian is Takeshi Yamamoto. He's a big fan of baseball and uses a sword for a weapon. He's always so cheerful and tries to keep everyone in line by offering support. Honestly, he doesn't really understand a lot of the things that's going on in the world. He still thinks that being in the mafia is nothing but a game and laughs everything off as if it was nothing."

"A game?" Reborn blinked, utterly confused at how a person could honestly think that way. It was ridiculous, the mafia was definitely not a game and not to be taken lightly. As they rounded a corner, he pushed open a door that leads into a small café he enjoyed visiting only because they made some of the best espresso. The food they had was just so-so. Still, it was the best place to talk and relax and get away from everything, even for just a little while. Inside the café, there were already quite a couple of people around, settled into the tables in groups, their voices traveling all around. Tsuna walked in first, saying a quick 'thanks' to the hitman who had held the door open for him.

The brunet continued off where he left. "Well, you're the one that started it. You made him believe that everything we were doing was just for fun. From the fighting to traveling, he thought all of it was the opposite of what it really is. He believed that the training you gave him was just to improve himself. It's kinda odd."

"And I'm the one that does it all…" Reborn muttered, catching the waitress's attention with a wave of his hand so that they could sit. As the woman came towards them, Tsuna couldn't help but notice the way she blushed at the sight of the hitman, silently cooing over his handsome looks, and shrunk away to make a squeal when Reborn spoke to her in Italian. Some of the people in the café, after hearing the cry, turned their way to see what was going on.

Tsuna twitched as a couple of customers ogled Reborn up and down and before long, felt uncomfortable despite knowing they weren't being aimed at him and hide behind the man. He didn't want to see this and definitely didn't want any of those perverted stares to turn his way. The brunet could already feel a few jealous glares on him, wondering why he was with such a person.

Glancing up to examine the hitman further, Reborn must really be handsome if he was able to catch people's attention just like that without having to do anything. No wonder he had so many lovers. He watched as Reborn gave his signature smirk, making a few women in the room swoon over at the sight, and chuckled in amusement. Tsuna just remained quiet as the waitress tried to flirt as she got them both, Reborn more so, settled into their table near the window. Drinks were quickly order without Tsuna making a say, not that it mattered since he couldn't read Italian anyway and simply watched his surroundings in boredom. Once the waitress left with a smile, Reborn motioned him to continue.

Tsuna could only sigh and thought back on where he had left off, he had been talking about his guardians, right? "Well, there's also my lightning guardian, Lambo. He's only five and is really childish and selfish, but that's to be expected since he really is only a kid. You two tend to fight often, though it always ends with him getting beaten or blown up. Sometimes by his own bombs he throws since you throw them right back. He's also the owner of the ten-year bazooka, the thing that sent me here in the first place. And finally, my sun guardian, Oni-san - as I like to call him. He's really energetic, always running around, yelling 'extreme' something. He's so full of energy, though he does tend to tire me out with his antics."

"So that's all of them?"

"Yep! But that's only my guardians. We're a little on and off with the Varia. Sometimes, we get along, sometimes we don't and try to kill each other."

When the waitress came back, putting down the drinks, Reborn immediately picked up his cup of espresso, smelling the alluring scent it had before taking a sip. He unexpectedly gave a glare at the teen, who flinched under it. He had forgotten that this Reborn was much, _much_ scarier in appearance. "Shouldn't you be able to control your own subordinates? The Varia is also under your command."

"Yeah, but Nono is still in charge until I take over. I'm not ready yet and I just want to finish high school first." Tsuna answered, drinking his water to distract himself since that was what the waitress has placed before him. She didn't even look at him, eyes all on the man in front of him.

They spoke a little longer, mostly minor things here and there, until their food came around. Tsuna stared at the thing before him, not sure what exactly was on his plate, but didn't dare question it. He'd rather look at it with questioning eyes then at the waitress, who was continuously flirting with the hitman until she got called off by an angry customer. Soon after the customer was dealt with, she came right back. Tsuna ate in silence, ignoring the two on the other side of the table, picking at his food, and when he decided to give up on it, his honey-colored eyes stare out the window to watch as people walked by. It reminded him of his home in Japan, though the culture and building structures were different, the people acted no different from anywhere else.

When the waitress finally decided to look at Tsuna, probably to get a better look at her target's companion, she said something to him in Italian to catch his attention and motioned to his nearly empty glass. Tsuna took a few moments to get what she meant and nodded in reply, giving a small smile in thanks. It was soon after that the strangest thing happened, the woman had completely stopped. Tsuna blinked, watching as the waitress continued to pour into the already full cup, looking like she had been frozen by some unknown force. Water began to spill over onto the table and before trailed off to the side to land onto the floor continuously. A pool began to form around his feet and Tsuna was unnerved by the waitresses' expression. Why the hell was she staring at him like that? It didn't make any sense. Reborn was staring as well, but his was better covered up, but that widening of those black eyes was undeniable.

"Um…" Tsuna gave a nervous smile and pointed to the cup, hoping to get her attention on the situation. When that didn't work, he reached over to take matters into his own hands, pushing the container up to stop the flow. Suddenly, a blush went across her face at the light physical contact and began stuttering a few words in Italian before dashing out of the room, heading somewhere in the back. Why? Tsuna wasn't sure. His eyes trailed down at his glass and sighed, thinking at how wasteful this had been and not entirely sure on how this would be cleaned up. More people seemed to stare, some turning away with red tints on their faces when the brunet glanced by. The confusion on Tsuna's expression was starting to grow. 'What just…happened?'

"Let's go…" Reborn said after a while, snapping Tsuna out of his little daydream. The hitman stood up from his seat after quickly finishing his espresso, tossing a couple of bills onto the table, and walked out, not bothering on waiting for the teen to follow. The sky guardian, surprised by the sudden retreat, ran after him and continued to do so to keep up. Reborn was just walking way too fast for someone with shorter legs to keep up.

'Did I do something to make him angry? I don't remember doing anything…' Tsuna thought to himself, finally catching up with the hitman, and went around to face him, the older man's expression unreadable as usual. "Reborn…"

"What?" The older man snapped, not even looking at him, eyes peering ahead without a care.

Tsuna flinched at the harshness of the tone and fell back a few steps. Really, what had he done? "N-Nothing." He trailed back slightly, scared all over again, and didn't dare bring up anything until Reborn had cooled down from whatever. He just followed behind like a little duckling, hoping that everything would turn out for the better.

But the question remained, just what the hell happened back there?


	5. Spending Time

_"What?" The older man snapped, not even looking at him, eyes peering ahead without a care._

_Tsuna flinched at the harshness of the tone and fell back a few steps. Really, what had he done? "N-Nothing." He trailed back slightly, scared all over again, and didn't dare bring up anything until Reborn had cooled down from whatever. He just followed behind like a little duckling, hoping that everything would turn out for the better._

_But the question remained, just what the hell happened back there?_

Reborn didn't understand why he suddenly felt so…so…irritated during that time in the cafe. It had only been an hour ago, but no matter how much he tried to calm himself down, he couldn't. He was just angry. He rarely ever felt like this…much less it taking a grip on his mind. It was bizarre and almost foreign. Reborn knew he could get angry, but this type was just different the type of rage that made him wanted to destroy or blow something up. And it continued to fume within the depths of his mind.

At the current time, he was standing near the changing room of a clothing store, waiting for Tsuna, who he had shoved inside with a couple of clothes to try on. His sharp ears could pick out the grunts and shuffling of clothes coming off and on and saw a few pieces of clothing hitting the ground when they came close to the door. During that time, the hitman leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the occupied room, his arms folded, and glared at anyone that got too close to him, even the woman that worked in the place that had tried to flirt with him were backing away fearfully. Shifting a little in his spot, he yanked his fedora down to cover his face and hide the frustration that was starting to show in his eyes.

All of it, all his problems were because of Tsuna, a teenager that had just appeared out of nowhere only yesterday, and yet the influence he brought to him was so strong. He found himself trying to resist and yet, there were times that he just went along with the flow and then there were others where he just wanted to fall. He didn't understand _why_. It was like Tsuna had an invisible hold on him, wrapped around his mind, and yet didn't. It was such a strange feeling and familiar to the one that _she_ held. Even at the cafe, he didn't understand why he had acted so out of norm. But when he had seen the way that waitress and everyone else in the room had looked at the brunet, he wanted to get out and take Tsuna with him far away from everyone else where no one could look at him. Reborn sneered to himself, he was letting his thoughts get the better of him again.

He sighed heavily soon after.

Still, his thoughts continued regardless of his wishes. The situation with Tsuna was beyond bizarre, the brunet being Vongola Decimo and him being the future tutor of Vongola Decimo. Even with that, just why the hell was he doing so much for him? It absolutely made no sense to him! And with that thought, it only added to his current frustration. The way the teen smiled suddenly made him forget all the harshness of the world, his current life, and even about his jobs. It made him feel…happy around Tsuna. For those few hours he had spent with him made him feel like a normal human being, not the number one hitman in the world, who killed people for a living. It was so strange. It just…wasn't possible.

Reborn grumbled to himself, not liking where he was going. There was really only one way to find out about the other and that was to continue staying with him to see more of that influence.

"Woah!"

The older man's senses snapped back into reality at the yell and sudden crash and he immediately straightened his posture. Without thinking, he dashed over to the dressing room, his mind going over the worst that could happen before stopping himself just before he reached the door. There was a mirror at the end of the hallway that reflected his panicky expression and he stared at it in shock.

'What…the _hell_ am I doing?!' Reborn mentally screamed to himself. 'He's in a fucking changing room! What the hell am I panicking about?' He would have pounded his head into the wall if it didn't make him look so out of character. Trying to calm himself from his mental breakdown, he straightened himself to make him appear as normal as possible and gently knocked the door. He heard a groan from the other side and let out the breath he was holding before speaking. "What are you doing in there? Decided to trip over your clothes or something?"

"Something…like that…Owww…" Tsuna muttered from behind the door. His moving shadow was visible from underneath and the clothes on the ground seemed to be pushed aside at the movement. "I'll be out…in a minute."

"Alright." Reborn walked out of the hallway, away from his reflection that seemed to be mocking him for his earlier panic attack, and ignored the looks he was receiving from the workers. Though he looked normal on the outside, the internal was a mess. More questions were running through his head like why the hell he had panicked at the sound in the first place? It wasn't like him. He didn't care about anyone. But for some odd reason, the boy was able to bring out his want and desire to protect him and Reborn hardly knew a thing about the teen except what he's been told. Sure, he was going to tutor him in the future, but that shouldn't make him act any differently. Reborn looked out the windows to draw his attention away from the store, noticing in the back of his mind that there were people passing by him, minding their own business, only sparing a glance at him before going back.

'Maybe it's because he's a sky element…' He knew he was just making excuses, but it was the only way he could think of to keep himself from doing something completely stupid. 'That or he has the natural ability to draw people to him, but that's a property of the sky flame. Acceptance. Light.'

Reborn was willing to bet that was only one of the multiple things that had Tsuna slithering his way into his heart. That adorable smile could disarm any person that looked directly into it. Even _he_ couldn't resist it and it was just a struggle to do so.

His ears picked up at the soft sounds of footstep and turned towards the hallway just as Tsuna came stumbling out, carrying a few pieces of clothes. "I'm finished," He said with a bright smile, but there was a hint of hesitation within it, the fear from what had happened at the café was still evident. It was like every word and step was made in consideration of not irritating the hitman. Of course, Reborn noticed it right away and within the back of his mind, he was now regretting that he had yelled at the boy. "S-Sorry for taking so long."

Reborn blinked then turned away, hiding his face behind the rim of his fedora. He pushed himself away from the window, heading towards the front desk to pay for the items. "It's fine, let's go." That smile was really draining him. He'll need to get used to it to ignore the effect it was having over him.

"Are you sure?" Tsuna gave a (cute) concerned face and for a moment, Reborn thought he could actually see sparkles dancing around.

'And fast…I need to get used to this and fast!' Reborn grumbled to himself, nodding to Tsuna's question. 'The future me must have done something to still be himself.' He turned around to take the clothes out of Tsuna's hand, checking over the price tags. He noticed how…little in quantity they were, there probably only about 2 pairs inside. "Didn't I tell you, you could get as many as you want?"

"But I'm only going to stay with you for a little while. I only need to alternate between a couple of pairs. Just one, maybe two. Plus, you really don't need to spend so much money on me." Tsuna blinked his eyes, observing the hitman with an eyebrow raised. 'Reborn is…acting…kinda strange?'

The older man shook his head at that, he had more than enough money to do whatever he wanted and however he wanted. It was the advantage of being a hitman, the number one, too, you get paid a lot, though Reborn never spent too much so in the end it just accumulated in his numerous accounts.

But Reborn didn't argue to Tsuna's logic and just placed the clothes on the cash register, taking out his credit card from his wallet. They quickly finished clothes shopping (Tsuna carrying the bag) while ignoring the flirting cashier, who was trying to see if she could get Reborn's phone number, and went to the next place they needed to hit, the grocery store.

They wandered around the store, still ignoring the glances towards them, putting things into the cart, well, Tsuna did. Reborn wanted nothing to do with it and instead hanged to the back, watching the brunet rumble though the vegetables, squeezing those for ripeness and flipping through the leaves to see the color. One time, Tsuna made a gagging sound at one of the leaves and it took a split second for Reborn to see a dead caterpillar nestled in it, part of the said green bitten off. Tsuna simply placed it back down to pick up a different vegetable. Most of the time, Reborn's girlfriends would do the shopping for him and he would just pay. It was easier that way. Still remaining in the back, his eyes continued to observe the teen at work, taking a glance around for any problems. Though the only issue Reborn had was that he just couldn't tear his gaze away from the teen.

Just then his cell phone rang, catching his attention and drawing him away from his surroundings. Glancing around the area for a quick check, he opened the device and answered in Japanese by mistake, far too used to conversing with the brunet. "This is Reborn."

It took a moment for the person on the other end to answer. "Ah, Reborn. Tsunayoshi is with you, right?"

Reborn sighed, he should have checked the number first. "Yes, Iemitsu, he's here. We're shopping at the moment."

Another pause. "Shopping? You're actually shopping? Oh my god, hell has actually frozen over!"

The hitman was tempted to throw the phone down and crush it under his shoes. But that would just give him more trouble. Damn that man. "Your son is shopping."

Iemitsu didn't answer for another few seconds and the black-haired man was hoping that the idiot had accidently hung up. "Reborn…" There was venom in his tone which was ignored. "You better not be forcing my adorable little boy into doing anything he doesn't want to."

"He's the one that just went off. I didn't even know he could actually shop. Tsuna jus-"

"Tsuna?"

"Ask your son. Anyway, Tsuna just took the cart and began looking down the aisle as if nothing was wrong. Even though he can't read Italian, he's able to look at the products and prices and just grab. I think your wife taught him that because I know for a fact that you can't even shop to buy a pair of shoes, much less, grab a box of cereal," Reborn scoffed, almost growling into the phone in annoyance. He didn't need this annoying man to bother him now of all times and hearing Tsuna's disgust of his father only made things worse. People around him backed off, even though they didn't understand the language, they could just feel that killer aura. "Anyway, what did you call me about?"

This seemed to snap the conversation back into order. Iemitsu went back into his serious personality, which wasn't much of one. "Yes, I called to tell you that myself and another will be coming down to pick you up tomorrow in the morning around eight. I'll text the pickup area to you later tonight. We can talk about what happens next with Nono."

"So I take it he already knows."

"Yes and he's quite curious about seeing my son. Not that I blame him, my son is just so cute!" Iemitsu let out a chuckle, going off on his own once again. "Well then, take care, Reborn. And take care of Tsunayoshi, he's your future boss! Also, don't do anything naughty to him either!" A loud laughter came soon after saying those words and before Reborn could say a rude retort, something to humiliate the man, the phone line went dead. Iemitsu had hung up on him. Grinding his teeth together in frustration, the hitman glared at his cell, his fingers curling tightly around the device, almost crushing it under his grip. The shoppers around him backed away immediately once more once they saw the angry expression and that dangerous aura now flooding out like waves. There were shivers running down everyone's spine, wondering what the hell was happening. The cell was starting to crack under the pressure when someone spoke.

"Reborn, are you okay?"

The older man snapped out of his rage and turned to Tsuna, who was watching him curiously with those large eyes. He glanced at his phone then to the cart, that was halfway full with groceries and the clothes were inside as well, and finally rested on Tsuna's honey eyes.

"Yes, everything is fine," Reborn could just feel his rage dissipating from Tsuna's cheery presence, calming him down. He had to admit, the boy was too cute for his own good. Tsuna could really rule the world with that smile. 'No, he probably already is since he's Vongala Decimo.' He mentally sighed, his attention back on the boy. "Did you get everything we need?"

"Not yet. There are only a couple more items I believe." Tsuna nodded, instantly running off to retrieve those mentioned 'items' by memory even though Reborn was certain that it wasn't possible.

The older man shook his head, following along, and momentarily wondered to himself, just how long was the boy going to stay with him?

++++++++++++++++++++

"Hey, you don't understand Italian, correct?" Reborn asked over dinner, Tsuna making half of it, wanting to help out while Reborn did the other.

"Yeah, I haven't learned it yet. Gokudera-kun was supposed to help teach me, but we never got to it with all the craziness that occurred."

"I see." Reborn went silent after that, taking a bite of what he had on his plate, chewing carefully. His eyes remained on the brunet however, watching him eat, well, tried to, and tilted his head as the teen struggled to use the utensils before him, barely tasting his food. It was obvious that the teen didn't use silverware very often or at all, the look of confusion giving him away. He wondered why he hadn't notice it earlier when they had been eating at the café, but that might be because the brunet had decided to try and pick at the food with his fingers, peeling apart what he deemed was edible.

Tsuna, in all of his frustration of trying to figure out how to use a fork and knife correctly, stabbed a large chunk of meat on his plate and picked it up, staring at it before taking a bite. However, the moment, he did, the rest of it fell back onto the plate with a flop, splattering some of the sauce onto the table. Tsuna pouted (though he was really trying to glare at the plate) and reached for a napkin to clean up at the mess he had made, still grumbling about the piece of meat. His eyes glanced up suddenly when he felt like he was being watched and when he did, he was looking right into Reborn's black eyes.

A blush spread across his face. "W-What…?"

Reborn smirked in amusement, liking the cute expression the brunet had. "Don't know how to use utensils?"

"N-No, not these…I'm used to using chopsticks for everything and holding up a bowl, too. It's just strange to me."

"Is that so?" The smirk grew wider and swiftly, an evil idea appeared in his mind, making the corner of his lips go from ear to ear. Getting up from his spot, he went around the table, abandoning his own food, and stood behind the teen, his chest pressing against the back. He could feel the body against him tense and shiver, and even more so when he placed his chin against Tsuna's shoulder, his breath tickling the skin. His fingers reached forward and wrapped themselves around the smaller hands, feeling the other flinched at his touch, and tightened his hold to ensure the other wouldn't be able to escape. His eyes could see the cheeks warming up through the reflection of the silverware and silently snickered to himself. Trying to refrain from poking fun at the teen, he maneuvered the smaller hands with a devilish smile.

"W-What? What are you doing?" Tsuna squeaked, watching as his own right hand scooped up his dinner, bringing it close to his lips. He pouted, but complied in opening his mouth, knowing better than to argue. That and the hitman was too strong to try and resist, it was like trying to fight against an iron grip. Reborn chuckled amusingly and continued to help feed the sky guardian in amusement, finding this highly entertaining. He leaned further over and pressed his body against the other, knowing that Tsuna would be squished between the counter and himself, and chuckled at the flinch that resonated. His sharp eyes noticed that Leon was watching them curiously atop his fedora that had been left on the other side of the table.

"Better?" Reborn whispered into the right ear. He grinned when the cheeks darkened in color.

"Y-Yeah…" Tsuna choked, he didn't understand this Reborn at all. He was so used to the one that would beat him up, threaten him, steal his food, and even throw him right into the enemy without a care, nearly letting him die. It's so strange and odd. As he took another bite on his own, he looked up for a moment to the man, able to feel the chuckles vibrate against his body. "W-Why…?"

"Hm? Why what?"

"Why are you so nice to me? I mean, shouldn't you be annoyed that you have to take care of me? Most people would." Tsuna blinked, going silent at finally being able to ask his question, the Reborn he knew wouldn't allow any of this. No, the future Reborn would probably kick him out and consider this as training to get used to the real world and it just brought out more confusion on his side. Reborn didn't act this normally…did he? Tsuna paused as he thought about that, he really didn't know anything much about Reborn even when he was a baby, almost nothing at all…

The hitman tilted his head so he could see the other better, eyebrows raised. "It's fine, I don't mind. I got some free time out of this so it's not so bad."

"I see…Um…I can eat by myself now. You better finish your own first before it gets cold." Tsuna muttered and soon after, the hands retracted their hold, the amusement on Reborn's face hadn't left yet. Standing behind for a little bit longer for observation purposes, he folded his arms, watching as the teen tensed at his stare before turning away.

"Alight then…" Reborn slowly went back to his spot, noticing the way the brunet relaxed, and settled down to finish the rest of his meal while Tsuna tried to do the same thing while attempting to keep his mind off of the other. That and the stare he was getting was starting to get unnerving, he felt like he was the prey under the attentive eyes of a predator. Tsuna took a bite and left the fork in his mouth, using it as a distraction to think further.

'Maybe…this could be a great chance to know more about Reborn, the real Reborn.' Tsuna thought as he pulled the fork out with a pop, licking his lips as he enjoyed the taste of his meal. 'But will he actually tell me anything?' As he finished, he placed the dish into the sink and exited the room, well aware that Reborn's sharp eyes were on him the whole time.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

A few hours later, they came up to another problem…at _night_.

There was only one bed in Reborn's little home, he had never needed to have more than one, and both of them were arguing to have the other use it. For once, Tsuna was actively quarrelling back, saying that he was merely a guest and shouldn't impose into people's homes. In return, Reborn would growl that because he was a guest that he should have the bed. Though the hitman was cruel at times, he was still courteous and a gentleman when it came down to it. It finally got out of hand to the point where Reborn just decided to pick up the teen and throw him onto the bed to end everything. Before Tsuna could make an argument, Reborn slipped into the covers with him.

"There, now we both can be happy." The hitman sneered, glaring at Tsuna in a way that said if-you-don't-shut-the-fuck-up-I'm-going-to-rain-hell-down-on-you.

Tsuna paled at the sight before sighing, giving up, knowing better than to argue right now, and followed Reborn's movement. He shifted to the end of the bed so that there would be more room and went all the way until he was a few inches from the wall. All a while, the older man had one eye opened to watch, his fedora and normal clothes lying neatly on a chair and had pajamas on instead, Leon sleeping in his own spot far away. To Tsuna, Reborn looked different and more relaxed tonight compared to their first night. Burying his face into the pillow, he stared up the older man's expression and had decided earlier that it was better for him to sleep in his clothes, not wanting to strip down near Reborn of all people, and tried to relax, but found it incredibly hard.

"What? Are you uncomfortable sleeping next to me?" Reborn spoke, still awake and opened the other eye, shifting a little to turn to the brunet after switching off the light.

"Well, you've never slept beside me before. You would usually be in your own spot in my room."

Reborn snorted and turned away, facing towards the opposite direction, his back towards Tsuna. Before long, his breathing evened out, alerting the brunet that the hitman had fallen asleep, and the covers drifted over his long lean body, bending perfectly at the curves. Tsuna watched from behind, but couldn't see anything since his view was blocked, wondering how the other's face looked like. He couldn't believe how fast Reborn could fall asleep, it just wasn't natural, but it was Reborn, the man was already unnatural as it is.

Closing his eyes, he waited for himself to finally fall, curling up into the bed sheets. He hoped in the back of his mind that tomorrow would be a good day.

++++++++++++++++++++

Morning, however, was awkward, too awkward and far too weird for the sky guardian's tastes.

Tsuna had woken up to feeling warm and comfortable from something, a feeling that was almost foreign to him. He had only remembered vaguely feeling like this years ago when his mother would sleep next to him during the nights, when she needed some company in bed. He would never mind doing such things, sometimes even requesting it himself, more often when Iemitsu had just left, just to keep her happy and to keep him away from the dark. Still, his mother was the only person that ever shared a bed with him and now maybe someone else…

When he opened his eyes, he suppressed a shriek that made its way up his throat. Trying to keep himself still, lest he wakes up Reborn and earns his rage. If there was one thing the hitman hated, it was being woken up untimely.

'WHAT THE HELLLLLL?!' Tsuna mentally screamed, staring up at the face before him. He kept still, hardly moving an inch, and was already scared at the thought of how this Reborn would react to being waken up. But there was still this problem…

Reborn's arms were wrapped tightly around Tsuna's waist and back, keeping him pressed again the older man with little to no hopes of escape. The hitman's face was nuzzled into his soft hair, blowing small puffs of air into it, and seemed to be quite comfortable despite their positions. The red tint on Tsuna's face darkened as realization began to hit him and as much as he tried to hide it, his face was already buried into Reborn's chest. He could hear and feel the heartbeat pounding within Reborn's chest, slowly luring him back to sleep if he wasn't already wide awake and aware of his situation. And he could smell the strong scent of gunpowder and a hint of cologne mixed into Reborn's clothes and hair that was brushing up against his skin.

Tsuna wiggled his nose and slowly tried to pull back to look up into Reborn's face, wanting to see how different it was compared to the other times. Curiosity just wouldn't stop bothering him and he carefully tilted his head back to look up. His honey-colored eyes widened at the sight, Reborn's black ones were closed shut and as he continued to stare, he traveled over every feature, taking in the handsome looks. Reborn simply looked peaceful, so relaxed, it was amazing, and those curly sideburns remained intact overnight despite the movement. Tsuna wanted to reach up to touch them and did try to, shifting his arm free to do so, his fingertips gently drifting over the warmth.

However, just before he could, the fingers that were gripping his shirt, keeping him trapped, tightened instantly. Tsuna flinched at that, feeling the nails dig into him, before sighing quietly, knowing it was too late. Still, he wanted to try and see how far he could get, punishment pushed out of his mind, and just managed to touch the curl when those black eyes snapped open. They took a moment to adjust and immediately peered down at that hanging hand and those large honey-colored eyes.

"What are you doing?" Reborn shifted to get a better visual, glancing at Tsuna's hand with an eyebrow raised before back into the eyes.

"U-Um…" Tsuna mumbled nonsense, not sure on how to answer that, and tried to retract his hand, but before he could, Reborn grabbed ahold. He tried again, but the grip was far too strong, and found himself completely trapped against the older man, no hopes of escape in sight. "C-Curl…I was trying to touch your curl." Blushing at his honest answer, Tsuna peered anywhere but at Reborn, not sure on how he would react.

"Hmm…"

Well, that was a better response than the brunet expected and tried to nudge out of the grasp on his body but the arm around his back, tightened, pressing him up closer to the older man. "C-Could you let me go?"

A pause came from Reborn then he wrapped his other arm with the other, pulling them even closer together to the point that they were touching skin to skin with clothes just separating them. It was so warm with the extra body warmth, so much so that he didn't want to get out, and buried his face into Tsuna's hair, liking the soft alluring scent it held in those locks. "Don't feel like it. It's warm."

"Hiiiiee!" Tsuna cried, panicking, wanting to struggle like no tomorrow. What the hell? Why would Reborn say that of all things? It was too strange and bizarre for his tastes. "B-But!"

"No talking back, now go back to sleep. It's too early."

'Is Reborn…a pervert?!' Tsuna mentally screamed out loud, squeezing his eyes shut as he shivered from the warm breath on his ears and neck. 'It's just like when I'm around with Mukuro…' He groaned as the memories of getting attacked by his mist guardian and remained still in compliance, knowing that between Mukuro and Reborn, the latter was much worse. He shivered again when he felt another warm breath run over his forehead, ticking his checks with his bangs moving in return, and glanced up curiously. The black eyes were staring at him and he blushed in response, unable to read the emotions that were deep inside those black depths. "W-What?"

Reborn just smirked in response and chuckled.

The sky guardian was even more afraid now, able to feel the vibration on his skin, and felt his cheeks darkening in color. Just what was going to happen to him?

"You know what? I'm fully awake now." Reborn suddenly released his hold and stood up like nothing had happened between them and went towards the door, still in his pajamas. Tsuna watched as the other stretched, craning his neck, and closed the door to the bedroom, his smirk never leaving those lips. The clothes that were left out for the day were on a nearby chair and slowly Tsuna sat up hesitatingly, eyes wide in disbelief, clutching onto the covers like a lifeline. In his half-dazed state, he could hear water getting turned on, most likely a shower, and twitched to himself.

'W-What the hell? Is he just messing with my head? He makes no sense!' Tsuna screamed silently, punching his fists into the innocent pillow that would just puff back up in defiance. He grumbled to himself, seriously pissed off at everything from this morning. It had been a long time since he had ever felt this angry, not even Mukuro and/or Byakuran could make him this pissed off. He just wished he could wipe off that smug look and beat the living shit out of Reborn…but then again, it wasn't possible. There was no way to beat Reborn. Tsuna paused in his pounding of the pillow, leaving his hands in it, and watched as the feathers puffed back up around his hand once more. He grumbled longer to himself and finally settled on crossing his arms, a frown marring his expression.

There was _nothing_ he could do but simply give into Reborn's absurd and crazy demands like usual, unable to resist like always.

Sliding his feet over the side of the bed, he felt the soles of his feet touch the ground, the hardwood floors. It was cold and he instantly curled his toes at it, finding it feel good against the warmth of his body. He sat there a little longer thinking to himself before sighing deeply and repeated to himself what he had thought earlier. 'There is absolutely nothing I can do against Reborn…'

Just as he was about to stand up, the door to the bedroom opened, the handle jiggling slightly, snapping the brunet's attention up to look. Tsuna blinked, he hadn't even heard the shower turning off nor did he realize that he had been thinking for so long and looked up in surprise. It took him a few moments to register the sight before, a dark shade appearing on his checks as he noticed the state the hitman was in.

Reborn was standing in the doorway with only pants on, hair dripping wet and flattened out from their usual spiky state. A towel was running over his hair, rubbing it dry, and some of the droplets fell down the tips of the hair, trailing down that toned body, making it glister in the morning sun that was coming through the window. The pants were loose, the zipper undone, and Reborn headed towards his clothes that were on the chair. Then those black eyes turned towards the brunet, who was staring, and smirked. "Like what you see?"

Tsuna gave a small squeak, turned away, and ran out the door, the same blush on his face. He had screamed out something, but it was impossible to recognize or understand in the brunet's rush, slamming the bedroom door behind.

The hitman couldn't help but laugh at the response, continuing to rub the towel over his wet hair with a smirk. 'Ah, the kid is just so fun to tease.'

He picked up his button-up shirt and dropped the towel to the ground to have a free hand to work on the buttons, working his way up from the bottom. Straightening the shirt to make it presentable, Reborn chuckled as he looked himself over and grabbed his jacket, turning his eyes towards the door. Oh, he was definitely going to enjoy having the teen around, he could just see all the fun Tsuna would bring in with his short presence. He glanced up at the clock, checking the time. 'Looks like we have plenty of time before we have to meet up with Iemitsu…Good…'


	6. Headquarters

_He picked up his button-up shirt and dropped the towel to the ground to have a free hand to work on the buttons, working his way up from the bottom. Straightening the shirt to make it presentable, Reborn chuckled as he looked himself over and grabbed his jacket, turning his eyes towards the door. Oh, he was definitely going to enjoy having the teen around, he could just see all the fun Tsuna would bring in with his short presence. He glanced up at the clock, checking the time. 'Looks like we have plenty of time before we have to meet up with Iemitsu…Good…'_

"So, Reborn, where are we going?" Tsuna asked quietly as they stepped towards a black car that was parked away from the condo. By habit from his training with his tutor, he recognized that the car was abnormal immediately and looked completely different compared to the ones that were surrounding it. Those heavily tinted windows made him feel nervous, he couldn't even see who was inside and how many there were within that single vehicle.

His eyes peered up curiously at the older man, looking over the features with another question at the tip of his tongue. He wanted to ask where they were going again, but the look in Reborn's eyes told him to shut up and continue. It made him feel uncomfortable, but he followed regardless, hoping that this Reborn wouldn't put him into dangerous situations. And when they reached the car, he was simply ordered to get inside, no explanation, nothing else. Tsuna fumbled over the leather seats after opening the door, getting shoved further in so that Reborn could get inside, and shifted to the far corner, behind the driver's. However, he shivered and paled when his eyes peered to the front to see who was in charge of the wheel. Oh god…

"Dad!"

"Tsuna! You're here!"

Iemitsu cried out happily in that manner of his, making baby faces at his son's direction which just made Tsuna sigh depressingly. The sky guardian swallowed and stared at Reborn, mentally asking why he was here as well as asking if he could somehow escape or better yet, kick this man out. Reborn didn't answer and settled into the middle seat next to Tsuna and spoke to the people in front in Italian. But the hitman couldn't deny the amusement from looking into those eyes, smirking at realization just how deep Tsuna's detest of his father went.

The brunet pouted at being ignored and took this time,since the adults continued to talk,to examine the person in the passenger seat. The man had short blond hair and a serious look in those blue eyes, but there was a smile on his face that seemed to contradict. When he had enough of observation, Tsuna glanced out the window in boredom, watching as people walked around in the streets, the day just starting with the sun still rising behind the buildings. That changed as they drove off, however, he kept looking out, not paying attention to the group, knowing he couldn't understand a single thing.

"Oh, Tsuna?"

At his name, the sky guardian snapped out of his daze, his eyes heading straight to his father, who was looking back through the mirror. He tried to hide his hatred and sighed heavily. "Hm?"

"We're heading to the Vongola headquarters, Nono wants to meet you so be respectful. Also, the person next to me is named Turmeric, but I'm afraid he can only speak Italian." Iemitsu's eyes went back to the road for a turn, but he still glanced back every once in a while.

At his name, Turmeric peered back and nodded, speaking something in Italian, probably a greeting. Tsuna, not understanding, could only give a weak smile in return and glanced over to Reborn, who had his arms folded, looking relaxed despite not originally wanting to come along. He blinked then turned back to his father. "Why does the Ninth want to do that?"

"He just wants to see you, it's up to him what he wants to do, but it's going to take a while to get there though."

"Oh, I see. Um…How long _will_ it take to get there?"

"It's about a four-hour drive. We'll be there around lunch time."

'Ah, I have four hours with my Dad, great…' Not letting his thoughts show on his face, Tsuna simply nodded and went back to looking out the window when he knew that the conversation was over. As they went into the main street, there were already quite a number of people already out and wandering. Most of them were still trying to set up their shops for the buyers that would be coming in soon for that morning rush. Tsuna continued to watch as they passed by, taking an interest on how Italy lived and their unique buildings, but that soon stopped once they got outside of the city and instead saw plenty of green grass and trees for miles. From what he was told, or managed to get out of his Dad, the base was just within the borderlines of Venice even though it was still far away.

Tsuna yawned slightly, still tired, noting to himself that he still wasn't used to the time difference. Even though he had slept, it was still night in Japan and his body wanted nothing more than to comply and pass out, using the window as a pillow. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to pay attention to the road and the outside world but instead of it keeping him awake, it was actually lulling him asleep faster. Before long, he closed his eyes, surrendering over to the darkness.

Meanwhile, Reborn stared out the window in front, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble though he was certain that nothing _was_ going to happen. They were in a moving car out in the open and no one should know about them unless idiot Iemitsu decided to blab. Leon was resting on his fedora as usual, curled around the top, and was listening to the conversation that went between the two men in front before him.

Reborn, however, ignored the usual words tossed around, not even deeming them worthy of his attention, and wandered in the back of his mind if maybe he should catch up on his sleep in the meantime. Though, he had been quite comfortable last night while having an extra body in his bed, he couldn't help but be tense at times whenever the brunet moved during the night. It was just an instinct to wake up immediately upon hearing movement.

He was about to close his eyes, tilting his fedora down to hide the top part of his face, but was startled slightly when he felt something land onto his right shoulder.

Reborn blinked curiously and glanced down to the side, raising an eyebrow at the sight. There Tsuna was sound asleep, eyes closed shut peacefully with an expression that told the hitman that the brunet was completely out, and was apparently using his shoulder as a pillow. That soft caramel-colored hair brushed along his neck, the ends of them just tickling his skin the right way, almost sending shivers down his spine. He suppressed the motion and tensed slightly at such the foreign touch, never letting anyone get this close to him, even during sex, before relaxing into it. He had to admit, the kid looked absolutely adorable with that little pout and when Tsuna nuzzled closer into his body, searching for warmth, Reborn sighed in defeat. He couldn't push the teen away, not like this, not when he was finding this incredibly comfortable, and in the back of his head, it was kinda nice. And so, he just sat there and allowed Tsuna to use him as a pillow, not bothered by it at all.

" _Oh my, getting comfy?_ " Turmeric chuckled as he glanced at the two, a smiling making its way on the man's lips. Reborn didn't know this person very well, though he did recognize him from the records, but a little bit of threatening later on will be enough to keep his mouth shut about this subject forever.

When Iemitsu looked over, Reborn twitched underneath his fedora. He didn't know why, but this blonde just pissed him off even before he spoke. " _I wish I had a camera, this would be a great picture to send to Nana! I bet she'll be all happy and everything when she sees it!_ "

Reborn narrowed his eyes at that, not liking the idea at all, and reached underneath his suit to pull out one of his multiple guns. There was no point in disturbing Leon for something as simple as this and leaned forward slightly, seeing as the seatbelt was holding him back, and shoved the end of it against Iemitsu's neck. He placed a little bit of pressure on it, nudging into the skin, right at the spinal cord, and a click was heard, the safety coming off. At the same time, his right arm wrapped around Tsuna's shoulders to keep him from falling over. "Don't you even think about it…"

Iemitsu just laughed wholeheartedly, not bothered at all about the gun at his back, not looking threatened at all. The other man did and got a little defensive, but relaxed after looking at his boss. Iemitsu just smiled, still driving like there was nothing wrong. " _Now, now, Reborn, I was just kidding._ "

The glare he was getting remained, Reborn was serious and wasn't pleased by the way the idiot was handling his threat.

This time Iemitsu spoke in Japanese. "And I won't tell anyone that doesn't need to know about it. But you two really look cute together. It's like the big bad wolf is protecting the little defenseless lamb."

"Iemitsu…" Reborn growled and gave one single warning spot, letting it crack the window in front. The sound of it made Tsuna jolt slightly, opening his eyes in a daze, before going back to sleep. Without knowing it, he accidentally wrapped his arms around Reborn's waist, wanting more of that warmth, and muttered a few words into the shoulder.

Surprised, Reborn pulled back for a moment, glancing at the teen before tilting his fedora further downwards to hide the emotions that were running through his eyes. But still, he refused to push Tsuna away and grumbled quietly, feeling the body next to him moved closer against him. His fingers kept their grip on the shoulder, keeping Tsuna from falling off and landing on his lap instead, as he leaned back into the seat to get comfortable, knowing better than to resist now.

Iemitsu made a 'cooing' sound which resulted in another gunshot that this time just barely missed his head. A few strands of his blond hair fell off, flying back and forth before disappearing into the color of the leather, and another bullet hole was made in the window. The cracks seemed to spread from the previous hole, combining together in the center, screwing up the view. Turmeric gasped at the sound, not expecting it, and bended down by reaction. Luckily, Reborn had switched for a gun with silencer he kept on hand so it wouldn't disturb Tsuna this time.

The hitman's voice was dripping with venom, obviously not pleased that this threat had gone over the blond idiot's head. "Shut up or the next one will be even closer."

Even though Turmeric didn't understand the words, he kept to himself, not wanting that glare to be turned on him. His boss was on his own, he wasn't going to dig his own grave because of saying something stupid to the number one hitman.

At that, the rest of the trip was hushed, no one dare saying a word lest they wanted to be on the receiving end of Reborn's gun, but every once in a while, Tsuna would mutter some words that didn't make any sense that only the hitman could hear despite being how quiet they were. Though after a while, Reborn decided to drift off as well since there was so much time left and pulled his fedora over his entire face to hide the fact that he was. Unknowingly and accidentally, he had leaned closer to the teen, scooting closer to make things easier, and smirked underneath his hat.

After about two hours into the ride, Tsuna woke up halfway when he felt something jump, his body moving with the force, startling himself to snap his eyes open. Sleeping with Reborn nearby had left him alert after all this time, afraid that he might be at the receiving end of that torture for not getting up. But what he found was just some bumpy roads, the scenery similar to the one he had fallen asleep to earlier and blinked curiously, loosening an arm to reach up and rub his bleary eyes to clear up his vision. He stifled a yawn, wanting nothing more than to stretch out like a cat, and tilted his head slightly.

"Ah, Tsuna, you're awake…" His father muttered in Japanese, momentarily glancing back through the mirror. Tsuna twitched when he heard Iemitsu's voice and even more so when he saw that large grin on his dad's lips. How…irritating. "Did you get enough sleep? You look pretty comfy there."

"Comfy?" Tsuna mumbled to himself, still in his sleepy daze, wanting nothing more than to close his eyes and go back to sleep. His pillow had been nice and warm and was just right to sleep on, nudging towards said pillow when he heard another chuckle from his father. He blinked again in confusion, but he could sense a slight grunt in that tone like Iemitsu was pleased and yet not at the same time.

"You and Reborn must really be close together in the future. Or did you manage to worm your way into his mind and heart in this timeline? Well, you are cute after all."

"What…?" Tsuna raised an eyebrow at that, not fully understanding what the older man meant. Anything his father stated was generally crap and should be ignored, but at the mentioning of Reborn, he stared down at the floor of the car in question, still not noticing that he was holding onto Reborn yet due to his sleepy daze.

Then a gunshot made him flinch, his ears ringing from how close the sound was and peered up to see three holes in the front window, one of them still smoking. A few more strands of blond hair were fluttering around and this time there was blood. The bullet had just managed to graze along Iemitsu's cheek, creating a long thin line, with small red droplets sinking down to the chin to gather. This time the blonde snuck down, jerking the car marginally, fear finally starting to creep into his eyes at how serious Reborn had been, any closer and blood would really start spilling down.

Slowly, Tsuna's honey-colored eyes trailed up to the barrel of the gun and drifted down to Reborn, who still had his fedora on his face and was holding the gun up. It was then that the brunet finally realized his position, a dark red blush quickly spreading across his cheeks as he began to comprehend who his so-called pillow was. Though there was a question of why Reborn had offered his shoulder, much less didn't push him away, hanging on the teen's lips, but when he saw the dark expression on the hitman's face, he kept himself shut. Still, that didn't stop Tsuna from blushing at the closeness and tried to pull away, but the hand on his shoulder wouldn't allow him. No, it seemed more like the grip tightened when he tried as if refusing to budge and with his arm that was behind Reborn's back, there was no hope of actually escaping. His face darkened in color and in the end, buried his face into the hitman's shoulder to hide it.

"Tsuna…" Reborn whispered, quiet enough for only Tsuna and himself to hear, eyes still on the two idiots in front, gun pulled out. There was that commanding tone that Tsuna just wanted to surrender over and listen, he was far too used to it. "Go back to sleep. We still have another hour and a half to get there."

Tsuna nodded weakly, leaning back over, eyes drooping closed. He may feel embarrassed about his position but still…he was too comfortable to make any retort, enjoying the warmth. Still, a weak smile appeared on his lips at the thought of Reborn _actually_ forcing him to sleep and there was no way he was going to deny himself of that. He hardly got enough sleep back at home with the kids and madness that went around. Maybe here he could catch up on it.

Before long, he fell back into a deep slumber, rubbing his face into Reborn's shoulder, completely content.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Tsuna. Wake up, Tsuna." Reborn nudged the sleeping teenager's shoulder, unhooking his arm around the smaller body, and tried to pull away. Luckily for him, the other men that had been in the car had already left, trying to get everything settled, and alert Nono of Tsuna's arrival. There were already people wandering about outside, dressed in suits with guns in hand, but not a single one could see what was going inside the vehicle due to the tinted windows. However, after a few moments of struggling, the grip Tsuna had on him refused to budge and didn't seem to want to let go anytime soon.

Grumbling in irritation and anger, the hitman made the motion of giving the sky guardian a good punch in the shoulder with enough strength to almost dislocate the area, however, was stopped when a soft mumble of 'five more minutes' and some cuddling made him freeze into place. Reborn could not help but smile at the scene before snapping himself back into his normal expression, eyebrows narrowed. Instead of his previous intention, he simply gave a harder push and was about to give another one with more strength when the teen gave a yawn, making him pause in his spot. His black eyes watched as Tsuna pulled back and rub his eyes tiredly, looking well rested but hazy. For a second, Reborn thought that he could see flowers sprouting around the teen in that one movement, looking cute all bleary-eyed and sleepy. He shook his head at the thought and sighed heavily in silence, opening the door next to him. A cool breeze slipped in through the cracks, his bangs rustling at the gust of wind, before taking a quick whiff of the air. Gunpowder and blood, that was all he could smell outside and it disgusted him.

Peering back at the brunet, Reborn reached over to knock him gently across the back of his head. "Tsuna, we're here. I need you to get out."

"O-Okay…" Tsuna muttered, trying to get himself fully awake, and stepped out slowly while rubbing the top of his head where his future tutor had hit him. He stumbled a bit from the lack of blood flow in his legs but straightened himself against the door when he looked outside. His eyes widened upon the sight, cowering slightly behind the taller man in fear. "W-Woah!" He swallowed heavily, snapping himself out of his daze, and paled.

There were hundreds of men in black suits all lined up neatly and orderly. A couple of them looked his way from his outcry and he almost felt like shrinking from all the stares. He didn't like them, it made him want to run away. Tsuna could just feel those eyes roaming his body, taking in his stance, his posture, everything. It was creepy, no, beyond creepy. Reborn noticed the stares instantly, aware that most were ignoring him and going straight to the teenager beside him and almost immediately placed a protective arm around Tsuna's shoulders, nudging him forward to get him walking. He gave a dark glare at anyone that dared to get too close or question about the brunet and a couple of the men stepped back in response to it, realizing quickly that Reborn's fingers wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger to end their lives.

Reborn gave another shove, trying to get Tsuna to move faster. "Hurry up…"

"R-Right…" Tsuna continued to walk, more like he was getting dragged along, but he didn't mind. He felt much safer within Reborn's grasp, like he was being protected. It was really nice of Reborn to do this for him.

"So this is the headquarters…It's really big." Tsuna looked at the front of it, noticing how old the place was, and as they entered through the door, he could suddenly feel all sorts of security cameras on him, watching him. And there were eyes that were staring from the side, the signs of guns obvious on the meaning of what they could do.

"There's also an underground area as well and plenty of secret passages. Right now, we're going to head straight to Nono. But be careful, some of the people here aren't very welcoming you as well since they think you're not a Vongola and others because you're with me." Reborn huffed, placing his hands into his pockets, and while strolling down the pathway, kept an eye out just in case, ready to go into action if needed.

Tsuna simply peered up curiously from his position, tilting his head as he blinked those large eyes of his. "Why's that?"

"Since you haven't been announced nor have a badge on you to say you're a Vongola member or not dangerous, you're considered an enemy. We've been trying to keep your identity secret as you've recommended and have been successful on that, but that leads up to the earlier statement. For being with me, that's already obvious enough. It's like some scrawny kid-"

Tsuna made a snort at that last comment, grumbling under his breath that he wasn't scrawny.

"-suddenly gets a lot of attention." Reborn continued, letting the little interruption go, and peered to the side to glare at a guard that wandered a little too close.

Iemitsu was in front of the two, leading the way, talking to Turmeric in Italian and wasn't paying any attention towards the people that were obviously trying to get to his son. Words that were spoken in the same language from other people in the area were whispered around and for once Tsuna was glad that he didn't understand it. He didn't need to understand the language to know they were talking about him.

As they passed a corridor, a young-looking woman suddenly stepped out of a room and the moment she caught sight of Reborn, she came running to the hitman with a seductive smile, stopping their progress as she called out to them. Tsuna watched the scene as the woman suddenly wrapped her arms around Reborn's shoulders and spoke so fast in Italian that it spun his head just trying to keep up. He gave up after a while and sighed and when he saw her getting all revealing-like by tugging at her already low cut dress, he spun around to gaze at the castle walls so he couldn't see anything.

His eyes drifted to a couple of pictures that were handing around and took the moment to examine the one that was the closest, trying to draw his attention away from the two behind him. However, that didn't stop his ears from picking up sounds of the woman and Reborn talking to each other beside him and tried to ignore it to the best of his ability while still walking. Slowly, when the grip on his shoulder loosened, he twisted slightly to see the woman's thin fingers slipping further around the hitman, trying to snatch the hand away from him and in the end, the woman succeeded. The greedy smile she gave him made Tsuna shiver, fully aware that this person was in the mafia just like everyone else around here and soon, just like her wishes, she had pulled Reborn to the other side of the hallway, closer to the window, and away from the brunet.

Tsuna sighed dejectedly, finding it cold that he could so easily be forgotten and his shoulders slumped slightly. It hurt, he didn't understand why, but it hurt that Reborn would toss him away like that. Still, Tsuna tried to push his thoughts away and instead focus onto a picture to better examine it. They were still walking, never losing their pace, and Tsuna followed behind obediently, drifting backwards, but still keeping up. As much as he'd rather run from his position, he didn't want to get lost in such a place like this, it wouldn't only be embarrassing, but dangerous, too. He could still feel the eyes of those men and his intuition was sending warning signals to him to be on his guard, its little attempt to protect him while his mind was elsewhere.

Listening to those voices deep within, he took notice of his surroundings and realized that sometime during the distance he had gained between Reborn and that woman, the men had gotten closer, eyes hard and held threats of danger. Tsuna shivered at the sight when he spared a glance back, yelped quietly, almost giving his signature 'Hiee' cry, and quickened his pace to get back to Reborn's side. The hitman's attention, however, was still on the woman, not bothering with Tsuna anymore nor looked at him, ignoring the brunet as if he was some forgotten toy. The thought of that made Tsuna's chest squeeze painfully and he shook his head to ignore it, distracting him from walking a head. As they got closer to another passageway, Tsuna had turned when the woman decided to press herself against Reborn's arm and ended up bumping into someone the moment he did.

"Ah!" From the focus and steadiness of the other person, he was pushed back by the force and landed painfully onto the ground, wincing as the hard rocks and concrete met him. His ass stung, a light burning and numbing sensation there. Tsuna gradually looked up in surprise, trying to see who he had actually hit, he could only hope it wasn't someone that was after his blood and wanted to kill him. "S-Sorry about that."When his eyes examined the person before him, he froze at the sight, paling slightly. 'Why does he look…so familiar?'

" _What the hell?_ " The person yelled angrily, looking around Tsuna's age, but was much taller - about a head or two more. The sky guardian stood up slowly, not understanding what was just said, but winced at the loud voice. He tilted his head to the side and blinked questionably, trying to pinpoint why this person looked so acquainted to him, even the voice.

"H-Huh?" Tsuna cowered, flinching as he heard something that sounded like cursing. The other teenager was pissed, he decided, but why? He had only bumped into him. Reborn had looked over to identify the situation, the concern for the other flashing in his dark eyes, but the woman that is already around his arms pushed herself closer as if trying to draw his attention away. The men that had been standing around started to snicker and grin.

Tsuna observed the other, who had short black hair and red eyes with a wide snarl on his lips that promised a beating. The taller teen had some kind of tail hooked to his jacket with feathers scattered all around, something that set him apart from the other members of the surrounding mafia. Tsuna couldn't help but think he was really familiar…even the glare was too. He knew this person, but from where?

"You speak Japanese?" The person grumbled, arms folded neatly, towering over the other with his height though he looked younger than Tsuna. Still…the person was intimating, it was like he was superior to everyone and probably was by the way he was acting. Even the other members of Vongola didn't come near as if afraid for some odd reason.

"Y-Yeah, I'm from Japan." Tsuna spoke softly, trying to not stutter and almost flinched when he did, baby Reborn's teaching coming back to him. He knew this person, sure he was ten years younger, but he knew _him_. But what was his name…

"Tch, so what is a weakling looking idiot doing here, trash? And what's your name?"

'Trash…?' Tsuna blinked then he paled as the realization came to him, there was only one person that willingly called him trash. And that person had been bothering him repeatedly no matter how much he tried to avoid him. ' _Xanxus_?!' He swallowed silently but then he noticed that he wasn't feeling…afraid. He had a feeling that this Xanxus wasn't going to hurt him and smiled weakly in return, his intuition had never failed him before…he thought. "I'm with Reborn." His eyes trailed to the older man, who had momentarily detached himself from the eager woman, much to her disapproval as she was glaring at the brunet with disgust. The hitman ignored the look and came close enough to speak, tilting his fedora for a greeting.

"Chaos, Xanxus. You don't really need to know anything or his name at this current point of time. It's none of your business." Reborn clearly spoke, standing tall and strong as always with no weaknesses in his posture, and only sighed when the woman wrapped her arms around his waist uncomfortably. He gave a warning glance that got Tsuna's attention and it made him cower for a moment, familiar with Reborn's glares, and it made him react to it more so than when the older Xanxus glared at him long ago. The woman was persistent and managed to drag Reborn off again, leaving Xanxus and Tsuna alone on their own. Iemitsu and Turmeric had gone further ahead, most likely to inform Vongola Nono of their arrival. Tsuna added another thing to despise his father further on, why the hell had he been left alone with someone that wanted him dead in the future? His father really was an idiot.

Tsuna let his mind wonder back to the situation at hand and blinked at the scene of the Reborn and the woman before turning back to Xanxus curiously, well, the fourteen year old one since the one he knew is twenty-four. "Well…um…Call me…Yoshi. I'd give you my real name, but I'd rather not get shot for disobeying. Reborn can get scary at times."

"Trash…" Xanxus growled.

"Ah…" Of course, Tsuna sighed quietly to himself, it wasn't like the name calling was going to change even in the past and they haven't really known each other yet. He was still called 'trash' and 'scum' in the present time. In the back of his mind, he could hear the giggling of the woman in the background and sighed depressingly, shoulders slumping. To think he would be so easily passed over because someone else decided to take over his spot. It kinda hurt to be ignored by Reborn like this so suddenly.

A few people walked by, all of them giving the group a look of curiosity and questioning before passing on. One of the men took things too far, thinking Reborn wouldn't notice or care, and shoved Tsuna to the side, making him fall over again. The teen blinked at the change of view before grumbling under his breath, standing right back up, and dusted his clothes off as if nothing happened. Even now he couldn't change the fact that he was an easy pushover. He tried to glare at the person in annoyance, but it didn't do anything, it just looked like a pout.

Xanxus growled angrily, his red eyes narrowing at what he had seen before him. "Aren't you going to fight back?"

Tsuna blinked, was the red-eyed teen really going to talk to him? He had suspected other things, but not this, still he went along with it, knowing it was better to be honest. "Well, there's really no point in doing so. Won't it make things worse than before?"

The black-haired teen snorted, growling. "Pathetic! And this is why you got pushed, Trash! No backbone in you!"

The shy guardian simply blinked, surprised and yet he knew it was true.

"You've got to show them who's boss! Blow them up, destroy something, or kill one of them!" The taller teen growled, his fists glowing as rage began to take over his mind. The men that had been coming closer backed away and Reborn glanced over curiously from the corner of his eyes, making sure that his charge wouldn't get hurt at all. "That'll teach them to never mess with you again!"

Tsuna just watched as the area surrounding them glowed with an orange hue from the flames burning brilliantly, the light coming directly from the fists. 'Is Xanxus giving me…advice?' The older Xanxus would just have scolded him and pushed him around, calling him names. But this one was helping him and Tsuna was finding it… _creepy_. It was probably because it was so out of norm for him and he didn't know how to react. "O-Oh…"

Xanxus placed his arms on his sides, the flames still burning but not as brightly. It didn't harm his clothes at all when they touched, it was just there. It was the same when he went into hyper dying will with the sky flames on his head. "And get rid of that innocent look! It makes you look so weak and pathetic! It's disgusting!"

Tsuna nodded faintly in confusion, unaware that he even had a look that could be considered innocent, and then smiled softly, this Xanxus…wasn't so bad. He just had to get pass the yelling and name calling, but other than that, he was actually a good guy deep inside. Now if only that remained the same with the future version then perhaps his life would be much easier. And the sky guardian didn't know where his sudden rise of courage was coming from to be able to talk to his once-enemy with such ease, he remembered that he would usually panic and shake just at the thought or even trying. But still, he didn't feel afraid at all, he didn't have a reason to. "Thanks."

The other paused for a moment and then suddenly snapped his head away, rotating his body to the opposite direction as if not wanting to face Tsuna. "S-Shut up, scum!"

The brunet blinked in question, tilting his head slightly. 'Did Xanxus just… _stutter_?!'

"Hey!"

Tsuna glanced over to Reborn, who had finally managed to pry the woman off of him and send her away, and watched as the hitman came closer to grab him, pulling him away from Xanxus. He peered up curiously into those black eyes, waiting for the response. "We need to get going, we'll be late at this rate."

"Okay," Tsuna glanced at the red-eyed teen for a moment, giving off one last smile. "Well, bye, Xanxus-san!" He didn't stay long enough to see what happened, getting dragged off by Reborn, knowing and recognizing that the hitman was now in a hurry after falling behind in schedule. Xanxus stood there silently in the back, watching the two leave, his eyes never leaving Tsuna until they disappeared around the corner, barely noticing that they were heading towards the main room where Nono was at. Twisting around, his eyes turned to the group of people that had been watching and taunting Tsuna the entire time even though they didn't understand Japanese. The one that had pushed the teen was standing there as well with a smug look on his face like he had done something great when he really hadn't.

A faint tint of red was on Xanxus' cheeks but it was hard to tell since the teen was shaking. His eyes darkened and unleashed his attack upon those within the area to blow off some stream. Why? No one was really sure.

Tsuna abruptly felt the ground rumble under his breath like the building was rocking and heard a couple of screams in the distance. He peered back, still walking, blinking his eyes curiously.

Reborn paused for a moment as if checking the air before continuing. "Ignore it and keep going."

"O-Okay."

They ended up at a large double door that looked more decorated than anything else, it was too fancy for Tsuna's tastes, and the imprints of gold was already making him imagine how much money was probably spent for something like this. Tsuna watched as Reborn knocked on it gently before taking a step back and remained where he at, just observing from the sidelines even as the door opened. The hitman had placed his hands back into his pockets after tilting his fedora downward to give that dark shade on his eyes and glanced over the brunet, noticing the staring. He mouth the word 'what?' and watched in amusement as Tsuna shook his head to turn away. As they entered, he noticed that it was some entrance hall with a chair close to the back middle, almost like a throne room of sorts. In it sat Nono, or Tsuna's 'grandfather', and right next to him was his father, smiling and waving happily like nothing was wrong. The brunet sighed at the sight of Iemitsu, but kept going, trying to keep his face as straight as possible though he couldn't hide his nervousness.

They stopped just a few feet away, able to get a clear view of the area. There was a silence as the two stared at each other, eyes mainly on Tsuna.

"So this is who you were talking about. My, he has really grown up quite nicely." Nono smiled softly like he wasn't a boss of a mafia group, his face showing no hidden emotions. He looked much younger than the last time Tsuna had seen him and yet still the same, the wrinkles not as prominent as before. The man was speaking in Japanese for Tsuna's sake since he had been told that the boy hadn't learned Italian yet.

The teen scratched the back of his head, feeling uncomfortable under those watchful eyes.

"Yep and before long, he'll be all big and important." Iemitsu laughed, throwing his head back and gave the largest grin.

While that happened, the Ninth raised a hand up to silence the external adviser with his eyes still on the brunet. "Tsunayoshi, come closer, will you? I want to see that face of yours up close. I must be getting old if I can't see you as clearly." He laughed sincerely at his own joke, amused with what he said, and gave a motioning movement with the same hand he had up.

"Ah…" The brunet took a few steps, all a while making sure not to trip over his own feet during the process. He didn't want to look like a fool right now and he was certain that if he had done so, Reborn of the past or the present one just might kill him, and so with that in mind, he watched his feet, careful as he went up the steps. Tsuna eventually stopped halfway, not sure how close Nono wanted him, but kept going when the older man kept motioning him to get closer. He finally stopped a foot away from the man, now close enough for Nono to touch his right cheek, examining his face carefully.

"Definitely Iemitsu's son I remembered. So bright that even I'm beginning to get influenced by his power." Nono laughed and pulled back, but not before rubbing Tsuna's head, messing up the brown locks.

As he said that, a question appeared in Tsuna's head and he blinked in surprise. 'Power?'

Nono continued regardless of Tsuna's questioning state. "But I guess we should get down to business. Iemitsu has told me of what has happened and that you're stuck in this time period, am I correct?"

"Yes, but the effect should wear off eventually."

"Then we should talk about your living arrangements-"

Tsuna cut him off with a waving of his hand. "Actually, I think I'm fine where I'm at. I don't really want to change where I'm staying. I had this argument as well with my…Dad."

Everyone snapped to him curiously, except for Reborn, however, the hitman noticed the slight pause before Tsuna had talked about his father and recognized why. He smirked when he saw that same rage from before starting to appear back on the external adviser, the man still wasn't happy about the whole situation.

Nono turned to Iemitsu with questioning eyes. "Is that true, Iemitsu?"

"Yes, it is," The man wasn't able to hide it in his tone, even Tsuna could tell, and Reborn's smirk began to widen. "We talked about on the first day I met him. I couldn't convince him otherwise. Tsuna," Iemitsu turned to his son, looking with desperate eyes. "You should stay here, you'll be safer."

"And what's wrong with my protection?" This time Reborn spoke up, flicking his fedora up to see better, and took a step forward, tempted to pull out one of his guns to fire.

"You're not a full Vongola member! There's no telling what you could do to my son!"

Tsuna blinked. "What?" He spun around to look at Reborn for a moment in surprise. "You're not a Vongola member?"

"I have a contract with Vongola. I'm a freelance hitman, but with that contract I just don't take jobs from enemies of Vongola and in term, Vongola will back me up if I were to get into trouble. I am but one man, I can't take down an entire army if such a group were to come after me," Reborn leaned to the side, folding his arms, and closed his eyes for a moment. He continued to ignore the glaring from the external adviser and Nono simply gave a nod in confirmation. "Though I've been loyal these past few years, there are still some who don't like who I am. They think that due to my high position, I can easily betray them or take a job behind their back to assassinate everyone within Vongola without anyone knowing."

Tsuna didn't reply to that, thinking deeply, and yet those voices continued to tell him that Reborn was okay, that Reborn would never hurt him. Smiling softly at that, he thought about what to say for a moment before finally speaking. "Well, I trust you."

The hitman paused at that, raising an eyebrow underneath the fedora, and gave a small snort. "That's because you're too trusting."

"Is that a bad thing?" Tsuna watched as Reborn got closer, not moving from his spot.

"Obviously." When the hitman got close enough, he pinched and pulled at a cheek, ignoring the yelp of pains that occurred. He smirked at the sight, feeling hands reaching out to stop him but didn't budge. "You can easily be betrayed or taken advantage of if you're too trusting."

"E-Eh? B-But then I'll just have to make sure I don't and rely on my friends to help me when things go bad, like you." Tsuna blinked, pouting slightly, feeling his cheek getting numb. He fluttered his eyes for moment and thought curiously to himself, noting that Reborn had stopped pooling. For a second, the brunet saw an almost unnoticeable flash of emotion through those black pools.

The hitman didn't say anything for a moment and growled, reaching up with the other hand to grab the other cheek and pulled. "Cheeky brat." He ignored the wails, Tsuna grabbing hold of those arms, but no amount of strength could move Reborn. The hitman was barely aware of the stare he was getting from Nono and the rage-filled one from Iemitsu. And then Reborn's senses were going off, pushing Tsuna away from him and dodging back just as a fist came at him.

The brunet barely caught himself and watched as his father glared at the hitman who had a smirk in return, going for one of his guns. Iemitsu sneered, a flame burning brightly on his forehead. "Don't touch my son."

"Oh? And why didn't you say anything before in the car? I'd say we were quite comfy in the back with you cooing like an idiot. You get all defensive when I touch Tsuna, but not the other way around."

Iemitsu faltered at that, knowing it was completely true. "Well…that was…"

"That's enough," Nono's stern voice rang out among the room and peered at the two men for a moment before flicking them to Tsuna. He had noticed something odd during the small match, the brunet had shifted closer to the hitman's side as if defending him and not his own father. It was too obvious, Nono told himself, Tsuna absolutely trusted Reborn with all his heart, but has no faith in his own father, there was too much of a difference. "Tsunayoshi shall stay with Reborn, that is final. I will not have any more arguments on this. Reborn, all of your assignments will be handed to someone else since taking of Tsunayoshi will be your top priority. You can start working once Tsunayoshi heads back to his own time."

"Yes, sir." Reborn folded his arms.

Nono then sighed, pausing to give a warning glance at Iemitsu. "It was nice to meet you Tsunayoshi, I wish I could have spoken with you a little longer, but I guess that's not possible since I have a meeting coming up and I do not want a fight right here of all places. Maybe another time."

Tsuna smiled and nodded, relaxing now that everything had been straightened up and knowing there wasn't going to be a massive bloodbath before his feet. "Don't worry about it, there will always be another time even if it doesn't happen now." He closed his eyes and gave a soft smile as if reassuring them. A relaxed expression appeared on the two adult's faces, the external adviser finally calming down, and as Reborn and Tsuna left, they shared a quick goodbye with Nono.

Tsuna turned to Reborn when they were alone and away from people, stepping down one of the empty hallways. "Reborn, if I remember correctly, you need to turn in some things, right?"

Reborn nodded to that, hands inside his pockets, walking gracefully as if it was second nature.

"Should I follow? Or wait somewhere?" Tsuna asked, putting his hands behind his back and leaned forward so that he could get a better look at the hitman, looking up into that eyes that were hidden underneath the shadow of the fedora.

"You can't follow me, but I'll bring you somewhere to wait in the meantime. I believe the gardens are the best place. It's also the safest area around here and I have a feeling you'll like it there," Reborn turned to a different hallway, making the other follow, ignoring anyone that came their way. "However, while you're there, don't speak to anyone you don't know."

"I understand."

The hallways heading towards the gardens, which were located in the back of Vongola, was nearly empty except for one or two people that passed by who gave a wide berth between them. Tsuna didn't understand why they looked so fearful at the sight of them and ignored it to look out the windows to see the said garden in the distance. He blinked, his expression brightening up at the sight of it, unable to hide his eagerness. 'Wow…its looks so beautiful.' As they walked into the entrance of the area, Tsuna took a couple more steps deeper towards the place before him, Reborn remaining behind. It was a maze, large and confusing, and instead of having metal or stone walls, it was thorny vines and ledges so thick one couldn't see through it. However, that didn't matter to the brunet, it was the fact that the walls were so _colorful_. "It's like it's made of every kind of flowers."

"Close enough and there's a spot in the middle that's hidden from most eyes. It's a small sitting area with a fountain. You'll know when you see it and when you do, wait there until I return. It might take a while, but you should be able to find something to do in the meantime. Try not to get lost, it'll be a pain to find you."

"Okay," Tsuna went closer into the entrance of the maze, ignoring the obvious insult towards him. "Well then, I'll see you later." Giving a small wave towards the older man, he turned around to run into the labyrinth, the sun resting on his skin, and unable to contain the large grin on his face. He had never been in such a beautiful place before and he wanted to see the full extent of the area. The hitman nodded to himself, standing there for a moment, a smile on his lips before headed back into the building. He had to admit, the kid was really too cute for his own good.

Meanwhile, the brunet was wandering the passageways curiously, taking a moment to look at each different flower he passed by, and stopped now and then when he realized he had arrived at a dead-end. Some of the flowers were in full bloom while others were still in buds, hiding away until they opened up later. He would bend over and smell a couple whose scent was strong, but he didn't want to get too close to a couple like the rose with its thorns. Still, the entire place had a wonderful aroma, covering up the scent of anything else that might be there. He ended up at a few areas that had a white statue, probably made of marble he guessed, and some looked like goddesses that would be holding something while others had angels. He never thought he would see such things in Vongola, but it was nice and when he had enough of staring, he turned around to head towards a different direction.

Then he found it.

He knew it was the area Reborn was talking about upon entering it. The sounds of rushing water filled his ears and as the sun shined on the crystal-clear liquid, a rainbow was created on the surface. There was a little white table on the left with four chairs around it, clean despite the weather that might have damaged it, and there were a couple of benches scattered around the area, settled next to the bushes. A large sky blue umbrella was in the center of the table, casting its shade over it, making the place look welcoming. But the most interesting were the flowers that surrounded the area. Each spot or ledge had a different variety giving it that rainbow appearance, but with more colors in-between.

Tsuna couldn't help but smile at the scene and walked to the middle, heading deeper to see the place better. As he did so, a white cat, small in size, came rustling out of the bushes, creeping towards some birds that were sitting on the fountain ledge, chirping and some were even playing in the water. However, the moment the birds caught sight of the predator, they fluttered away into the sky, chirping madly like they were taunting the feline. The cat simply meowed in disappointment before glancing at Tsuna's direction for a moment when the brunet took a step forward, before running back into the bushes when it saw a bird land on the other side. Tsuna chuckled in amusement and sat at the table, tempted to fall asleep at the blissfulness of the area, but he decided against it. If Reborn were to catch him, he was sure it wouldn't end well.

As he stared at the scenery, he didn't notice someone else entering the area behind him.

"Scum?"


	7. The Gardens

_As he stared at the scenery, he didn't notice someone else entering the area behind him._

_"Scum?!"_

Tsuna snapped his head up, fear coursing through his body for a moment by reaction, and from the previous warnings Reborn had stressed, he was ready to go into hyper dying will mode to defend himself. But then he calmed down long enough to recognize the voice. There was only one person he really knew that would outright call him that without any hesitation.

The person spoke again, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Slowly turning around, the brunet peered at the entrance of the area and blinked his eyes in confusion, wondering in the back of his mind why he was here of all places. Xanxus had his arms folded, looking vicious like he was about to bite a person's head off, and had a sneer on his lips. His coat was draped neatly along his shoulder, flapping behind him when the wind would blow by, and his familiar guns were at his hips. Stomping forward, his footsteps crunched against the dirt and dried leaves, his eyes were narrowed, and he had his usual dangerous aura surrounding him.

Tsuna swallowed, that fear he hadn't been feeling before when they first met in the hallway was creeping back and he wondered why the other was looking at him so angrily. He hadn't done anything…right? However, that fury wasn't at full force, more like a tug at his body. "I'm waiting for Reborn. He told me to come here…"

"Tch!" Xanxus flopped down into one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table and immediately placed his feet up onto the chair next to it. It was his usual lazing position and leaned back against the chair with one hand propped up under his chin.

The brunet slowly got closer, seeing as the other wasn't going to hurt him or at least felt that that rage wasn't directed at him. "Why are you here, Xanxus?"

"That's none of your damn business, trash."

"O-Okay…" Tsuna swallowed, feeling tense, he fell back a little at the rude comment. He didn't want Xanxus to explode at him, not here anyway. He'd like to see this place in ten years when he's forced to come here, not a pile of smoking ashes of what it had once been.

It was at that moment, the bushes rustled with the white cat from before coming back. Its bright blue eyes stared at them for a second before stalking forward bravely, right at Tsuna. The brunet blinked as the cat stopped at his feet, looking up and then tilted its head curiously. Before long, once it knew it had everyone's attention, began to purr against the teen's legs, rubbing it back and forth happily. Tsuna smiled at the act and leaned over to pick it up, petting the soft fur carefully. The little creature once more purred and rubbed against the warm hand, obviously liking the strokes. Its tail perked up and the eyes closed in content.

Tsuna could only laugh at the sight. "You're so cute." He patted a little longer before looking up at Xanxus. He flinched when he noticed that the red eyes were staring at him, watching his every move carefully. For a moment, he felt like cowering back again, but his attention was stolen away when the cat purred against his hand again. Getting an idea, he stood up, cradling the sneaky cat in his arms and went closer to the younger teen (he's fifteen, Xanxus is fourteen). He pulled a chair right next to the other, all a while keeping an eye out for any bullets or flames, and sat. Tsuna nudged the cat's fur gently, who took the hint and wandered over into Xanxus' lap, poking its cold nose into the folded hand, demanding to be petted. The black-haired teen stared down at the beast before complying and a small hint of a smile showed up.

Tsuna noticed it instantly, not expecting such an occurrence. "Do you like…cats?"

Xanxus snorted for his reply.

"A-Ah…" The sky guardian watched curiously as the cat rubbed itself into the larger hand. "He really likes you."

The cat continued to purr, licking the hand in happiness.

Xanxus huffed. "Looks like it."

When he stopped, the cat hopped back over to Tsuna's lap and perched its forelegs onto his chest. _He_ (for obvious reasons) stretched his long body and licked along Tsuna's chin and neck since he could only reach up to that point for the moment.

The brunet snorted, trying to contain his laughter, as he squirmed. The tongue was ticklish and he had to hold the cat back before it tried to go for his lips. One honey-colored eye was closed and when the tongue finally managed to lick his lips, Tsuna blushed. His fingers went behind to scratch the cat's ears, hearing the constant purr again.

He took that chance to wipe his mouth, not wanting to have any of that saliva there.

With that, a chuckle came from beside him.

Tsuna stopped what he was doing to stare in shock. It was an odd sound after all. Either way, did Xanxus just _laugh_? Not an evil laughed or one of pure amusement, but just a soft laugh. His eyes were wide in amazement and then puffed out his checks when he realized that he was the one being laughed at. Turning away, he looked down at the cat and immediately got an idea.

"Attack him! Go, go, go!" Tsuna grumbled, pushing the beast back to Xanxus. The cat meowed and immediately complied with the request, going up to lick at the explosive teen's lips. Meanwhile, Tsuna used that chance to watch. He had never seen Xanxus like _this_ …It was…different. There was no threatening and he was somewhat nicer to him (probably because he didn't know who Tsuna was). Ten years could really do a lot to one person.

"What the fuck?" Xanxus calmed down enough to yell as the cat licked along his face. But he wasn't angry. The cat swung his tail and rubbed his fur against Xanxus' face. The younger teen lifted the cat into the air, staring at it. It meowed, tilting his head in return, and blinked its large blue eyes. "Trash…"

The cat meowed again, not aware of the insult.

"VOOOIIIIIII!"

Tsuna flinched, feeling his chair rattle at the yell. He knew that voice anywhere. It was Squalo…and he was just as loud when he was younger. 'Oh no…' The beast's ears fell down as if in pain from the voice. The brunet snickered as he rubbed his own. "I feel for ya, kitty. Wow, he's loud."

"Tch, damnit…" Xanxus grumbled and stood up, taking the cat with him. He glanced at the older teen for a moment, his red eyes looking over the brunet carefully. "Better get out of here before loudmouth does any damage. Here."

Tsuna watched as the cat was held out towards him, but he shook his head, standing up to get away from the shade of the umbrella. "He's not really mine. You should keep him. I won't be back here to look after him for a _long_ time and I think he'll be safer in your hands anyway." It was for the best after all, he wasn't from this time. There was no way he would be able to watch the cat and he knew for a fact that Reborn would be more likely to kill the creature than keep it.

Xanxus twitched his nose as if deep in thought, turning the cat around to look at it closely. There was a pause as the two stared before he let out a small sigh. "Fine, I'll keep the little bastard."

At that, Tsuna pouted, clearly not happy about the other's name calling for such an innocent beast. "Xanxus, you should name it and not an insult if possible. He has feelings even if he doesn't understand a thing you're saying."

The black-haired teen snorted, still staring at the cunning creature as it meowed lightly. The tail shifted side to side slowly as if watching Xanxus carefully. "Bullshit…He was able to understand you."

"By chance."

"Whatever…" He eyed the cat for a little longer, his mind raking through the possible names he could give. There weren't many in the first place and he had never been good at these sorts of things. That was probably why he enjoyed calling everyone trash. "Hmm…Lenard."

"H-Huh? Lenard?" Tsuna blinked questionably, tilting his head slightly to listen better. Had he really heard the other say a real name besides the usual?

"The cat's name, Lenard."

Tsuna stared for a moment, a silence settling between the two teens, before breaking out into a smile. Xanxus blinked and then blinked again, tempted to actually rub his eyes at the sight before him. He was certain he was hallucinating. There were imaginary flowers blooming around Tsuna and it looked even better than those that were currently surrounding the area. And they were sparkling too. Xanxus momentarily looked down at the cat, wondering if the beast had something to do with it. But Lenard just back, head tilted to the side with the ears out wide for listening.

However, before anything could happen, the atmosphere was crushed when another earth-shattering "VOOIIIII!" came. It took a lot of courage for Tsuna to not jump in shock.

The yell snapped Xanxus out of his daze along with his expression as it changed into anger. "That fucking idiot! I'm going to shut him up for good!" Xanxus was about to stalk off when he paused and turned around. The cat was nuzzled in his arms, loving being held like this, the white tail swishing back and forth in content. "Yoshi, correct?"

Tsuna nodded.

The black-haired teen smirked. "You're cute." He then disappeared into the maze, leaving the other behind.

Tsuna sat there with wide eyes, mouth gaping open in shock. Redness made its way onto his entire face almost like there was something burning. He couldn't believe what had just happened. 'Did…Did Xanxus…just _flirt_ with me?' His blush darkened and collapsed into a chair. 'What the hell just happened…?' He heard a couple of shots going off along with an explosion that followed and another "Voi" in the distance. There were more shouts and a couple sounds of metal clashing against each other all generating in one area. Tsuna decided to remain where he was at especially when he saw another explosion, a giant cloud of smoke that looked very much like a mushroom drifting up. There was no way in hell he was going to get involved in that. He'd like to live, thank you very much.

"Looks like Xanxus and Squalo are fighting again…" A sudden voice came from behind, startling Tsuna enough to make him jump up and scream. He rotated around, almost snapping his head, and looked like he had just been caught doing something he shouldn't with those wide eyes. Tsuna almost felt like his heart was going to tear out of his chest by how fast it was beating and tried to control himself from actually fainting at the scare. For Reborn, on the other hand, the hitman was smirking, hands within his pockets. The black-haired man was actually happy that he had scared the kid, almost howling in laughter at the sight.

"Reborn! Don't do that!" Tsuna sighed, holding his chest where his heart was pounding wildly and took a deep breath. When he managed to calm down enough to have a decent conversation, he peered at the hitman questionably. "I take it that you're finished?"

"Yeah." The man stepped forward then narrowed his eyes as he remembered seeing something a while back when trying to enter the maze. He had seen Xanxus storming out of this place, face distorted in rage like usual, and was pulling out his guns to attack Squalo, who wasn't too far away. Of course, the resulting explosion was to be expected whenever those two were around and he could probably hear the noise all the way to the other side of Vongola manor. However, to see Xanxus come out of the maze, it meant that he and Tsuna had most likely met. Hopefully, the kid was smart enough not to slip anything about the future that might give away things. After all, from what Reborn was aware, Xanxus wanted the Decimo title over his adopted siblings. And did Xanxus come out with a cat? It had almost made him want to retake looking over the other. 'No…Need to get back to the subject at hand.' Reborn eyed the teen, looking for any hidden giveaways that would alert him of something happening. "Did Xanxus come out of here?"

"Ah, yes, he was just here." At that mentioning, Tsuna's face darkened in color, still remembering those words from before. It was still difficult for his brain to get around it. He slowly turned away from the hitman and tried to hide it from view, but Reborn wasn't stupid. He saw the color change and raised an eyebrow at it but strangely, he didn't question the blush. But Reborn couldn't ignore the tight squeeze in his heart that Tsuna was blushing for something else.

"Did he…do anything to you?" His fingers clenched down within the palm of his hands that were hidden in his pockets, slightly worried that something might have happened. He squeezed hard enough to make red marks on his skin.

Tsuna shook his head at that. "N-Not exactly. We just…talked."

"Talked? Xanxus doesn't talk. He kills things." The hitman shifted closer and sat down in the seat where Xanxus had been at. Reborn folded his legs and pulled out his hands from the pockets, getting into a more comfortable position.

"I know, but we just…talked."

Reborn hummed, pulling down his fedora for a moment to think. As he did that, he glanced at his watch that was hidden underneath the sleeve of his jacket and nodded to himself. "Well, anyway, we should get going. We can get something to eat when we get back, unless you are hungry now. It doesn't matter to me."

"I'm not really hungry at this moment, but if you are, we can."

Reborn shook his head; he didn't want to be here any longer than needed. This place was just too raucous and chaotic to get anything done. "No, I'm not hungry either. I'd rather head on back. It's too noisy around here." As he said that, they could hear Squalo yelling in the background again and a couple more gunshots with sky flames following behind. He, of course, ignored it like it was nothing and stood up, pushing the chair in before making his way his way out of the maze. Tsuna followed right behind, almost like a duckling, keeping close to the older man at all times even though there was no one else around in the maze. Reborn took out his cell phone to give a call to the driver so that when they arrive to the entrance, it'll be ready to go. Tsuna glanced back one last time at the gardens as they exited out, noting to himself that he'll have to come back later on when he returned back to his own time. He hoped that everything would still be here as it was meant to be.

Though when they came out, Tsuna didn't see the arguing and fighting Xanxus and Squalo, but he did notice the mass destruction they left behind. It was too obvious from the various items that were cut up or the scorch marks that looked like something had been burned. And just as Tsuna stepped into the Vongola building, he saw a flash of orange light not too far away in the distance, obviously Xanxus' flame of rage running wild. He sighed, well, at least they hadn't changed much in the future.

+++++++++++++++++++

The trip back was similar to the one when they had gone to the base. Somehow Tsuna had fallen back asleep, once again using Reborn as his pillow. This time, however, there was only the driver, who didn't seem as nosy as Iemitsu had been and instead didn't look back at all. That, Reborn liked and smirked to himself before peering down at the weight on his left shoulder and silently sighed to himself. He was against the window right behind the driver, a more comfortable spot than before where he had been in the middle. Kicking his legs up onto the cushions, he shifted Tsuna around after unbuckling the seatbelt and let the teen lie all the way down onto his stomach. Leon shifted a little in surprise, not expecting his master to actually do something like that, and blinked its large eyes.

'I can't believe I'm actually doing this…' Reborn leaned back against the car door and folded his arms after pulling his fedora to cover his eyes. He stared down at the still sleeping teen, who began nuzzling into his stomach as if it was some sort of pillow, and couldn't help but shift uncomfortably at the sensation it brought to his body. A little bit of blood rushed to his face at that touch and he had to suppress a shiver that wanted to make its way up his spine. Luckily for him, his spot was right behind the driver's seat so he couldn't be seen.

Reborn willed himself to die down the blush and succeeded after a while, making himself look as normal as possible to not give away his thoughts on the matter. Though he couldn't see Tsuna's face since it was now buried into his clothes, he was sure the teen appeared like his normal self, never changing despite the craziness that occurred in his life. And to think that this person would be his boss in the future. As he thought that, his fingers ran through the soft silk-like hair, enjoying the coolness of the locks as they rubbed in-between the digits immensely, and smiled softly.

'I've known you only for a little while and I've already gotten so attached.' Reborn mentally grumbled before stopping in his strokes. He knew better, he was a hitman after all, and the best, too. He wasn't supposed to get attached, no, he wasn't allowed to. Any attachments like this just couldn't be possible, it was too dangerous, and he knew that Tsuna's life would be on the very balance every day. After all, an enemy could easily use Tsuna against him. It was too dangerous, too risky.

But…but this boy was different, Reborn knew that deep inside his heart. Tsuna wasn't just some plain person that could easily get killed. No, he was Vongola Decimo, his future-to-be student and boss. Someone that would be high up in status and most likely powerful enough to defend himself from anything that came along. Though Reborn had never seen the teen's abilities except for small moments of intuition, he could feel the power radiating off of the brunet. It was too obvious despite being concealed by the teen's stupidity and innocence. Tsuna was strong, perhaps stronger than most of the people in the Vongola base, but not stronger than him, not yet, Reborn knew that for a fact.

The hitman glanced over the sleeping teen once more, his mind in a jumbled mess, before pulling himself away. He just couldn't figure out what to do. Should he allow himself to get attached or push away? He sighed and reached up to pull his fedora further down. 'It doesn't matter anymore…' Reborn closed his eyes, not wanting to care or bother about this subject any longer, and allowed himself to shift closer to the warmth that Tsuna seemed to radiate from his tiny body. He just really didn't care anymore and wanted to see how things would go.

But he knew one thing.

He wanted to be with Tsuna. And that was it.


	8. Sight-seeing

Reborn found himself quickly getting used to the new addition to the household of his place. It was quite odd to have someone else living with him like this but he found himself not minding as he originally did. Tsuna is normally quiet, never speaking much unless necessary, and was more of a joy to hang out with than anyone else he had been with. Most of them were loudmouths, idiots, or way below his standards, and sometimes a mixture of all three. For his lovers, it was only for a little while before he shipped them out of his place, wanting to enjoy the peace and quiet that only seemed to exist whenever he was alone. Almost all of them were too clingy for his tastes and irritated him after a while, the last bit being somewhat tolerable, but eventually they would aggravate him as well. Though Tsuna had his times of being a klutz, he obviously did his best in trying not to create as much trouble as possible and that was enough for Reborn to keep the brunet around.

Of course, Tsuna brought his own entertainment with him. Reborn found it amusing to see the brunet try to understand Italian by reading the words on the newspapers or listening when watching TV. The hitman understand what Tsuna was most likely feeling, he had experienced it in the past whenever it was the first time he was seeing a new language like the different versions of Chinese or German but he learned. Reborn gave a few teachings on the language, pointing out the obvious words that stated basic greetings from 'Hello' to 'It's a nice day outside' and Tsuna rapidly absorbed the information. Of course, the hitman almost laughed when the brunet tried to speak it back to him, fumbling over his words with stutters, and gave an expression mixed of complete concentration and confusion. The way those eyebrows creased downward and those eyes narrowed, it would look like the other was pouting in frustration. Reborn couldn't blame Tsuna for being so. The pronunciations of the lettering between the two languages were different. While it would be done so one way, it wouldn't be for the other, and that was the main reason for the confusion within the brunet, who kept switching back and forth.

Eventually, Reborn had enough and wrote out the entire Italian alphabet with their pronunciation beside it, hoping it would help out. And it did. Tsuna used that single sheet of paper as reference to make sure he was doing it correctly, improving excellently with each use. Though, old habits were hard to die off and he would still slip every now and then but there was no doubt he was improving. Other than teaching Tsuna on how to read the language and speaking what he knew since Reborn figured that would be far too advance to try anything else, they simply hung around the condo peacefully like there was nothing going on with the rest of the world. Tsuna couldn't help but enjoy this peace. It was different compared to the chaos at home he always dealt with, most of it occurring because of baby Reborn. But there was no doubt in his mind that he missed his family and friends. He loved them all after all. Though, a little break doesn't hurt every now and then, he would tell himself.

Two days passed that way and before long, the two were staring at each other awkwardly, well, Tsuna was. The brunet didn't know what else to do with the hitman, they weren't exactly friends despite everything and he hardly knew anything about Reborn's personal life. He wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one that managed to get this close to the other for long periods of time that didn't involve any sort of physical contact of the sort. It was…weird. That was all Tsuna could think on his situation.

"Tsuna," Reborn's voice called out from within the bathroom, having just taken a shower on the fifth morning since Tsuna's arrival. He rubbed his black hair with a white towel, trying to get as much of the moisture out of his locks. Steam rose up from the encased glass, the air still warm within, and he stepped out wearing only a pair of pants, nothing else.

His feet were bare against the cold hardwood floors and, as he stepped into the living room, he could hear the TV on going about some show that sounded like a drama. It's the type of show he could see a woman watching but he figured since Tsuna didn't know what was going on, he could only watch what is deemed visual appealing. His footsteps were silent against the floor and he was about to call out the rest of his words when he suddenly heard a loud squeak. Raising an eyebrow curiously, he finished rubbing his hair down and let the towel hang around his bare shoulders, giving him a clear view of the setting before him that wasn't obstructed by wet hair or by the towel itself. Tsuna is obviously staring directly at him, eyes roaming with a slight red decorating the cheeks, before snapping his head away to look back at the show. It was clear to Reborn that the brunet was _trying_ to avoid looking at him directly while being discrete.

The hitman could only smirk, finding the expression hilarious, and reached up to run a hand through his wet hair, slicking the locks back into their previous stance. "Anyway, since we have nothing better to do, do you want to go sightseeing?"

Tsuna perked up at that, slowly twisting around the couch to peer at Reborn, but the moment he did so, he snapped his eyes downward once more. This time, however, he hid behind the couch to look up now and then shyly, rapidly nodding his head since he didn't trust his words. Reborn eventually rotated away to head into the kitchen to get something to drink, desiring something refreshing to slide down his throat after taking a nice hot shower. He didn't like feeling grimy, much less, dirty his expensive tailored suits. The brunet took that moment to shift behind the couch, raising himself up to the top with his arms crossed on the surface, and finally spoke, "Where would we be going through? I've…never been to Italy."

Reborn huffed, opening the refrigerator with a 'pop' to pull out a bottle of cold water, twisting the cap off. He gulped down half of it and released a content sigh afterwards, putting the cap back on. Gliding his tongue went over his lips, he moistened them and almost wanted to smack them in delight, before putting the bottle back inside. "We can hit the popular sites tourists head to all the time. We're in Venice, the city of water. It's one of the top tourist attractions in Italy. There has to be something to do. And even if you didn't find anything here, we can take a train to any destination that's not too far away."

"Then where would you recommend?"

"Recommend? I think we should take the train out first then come back here and explore Venice during the night. The canals look the best around that time. One of the places we can visit is Rome but it'll be best to just stay the night since it's almost a five hour drive, the train being shorter. We can do that today or tomorrow if you wish, I really have nothing better to do." Reborn closed the door, heading back into the living room, and watched as the brunet shrunk back down into the couch. He almost wanted to laugh at the hilarious appearance of the other and maybe poke a little fun just to amuse himself. And if he didn't know any better, he would think he was looking at a little bunny rabbit. All Tsuna was missing is the ears and it would look complete.

"B-But that sounds expensive! Y-You don't have to w-waste that much money for me!" He squeaked when he lifted his head up too high, catching a good view of Reborn's slender body. He's certain the older man is laughing at him, this is Reborn after all. Still, he could see why so many people went after the hitman. He has a drop-dead gorgeous body that is model in appearance and, despite being slim, he still had those muscles appearing through. Tsuna flopped down across the couch, ignoring the rest of the world except for Reborn's voice and the TV, trying to drown out his thoughts.

The hitman shook his head, letting out a little chuckle, and began to make his way towards the bedroom to change. "It's fine, I have more than enough to spend. Besides, what type of person would I be if I didn't treat my future-to-be boss?"

Tsuna pouted, plopping his head onto the arm of the couch. "Are you trying to bribe me? That won't work after all the nightmares you put me through in the future."

"Is that so? Then we'll just have to see about that." The hitman gave a cunning smirk and slipped into the bedroom, letting the conversation die off for the time being. Pulling out his usual clothes from the drawers and closet, he dressed himself in his normal attire, never missing a beat. Reborn refused to look out of style and the finishing touch to everything is his fedora, tucking his hair underneath. All his weapons, his armory, were strapped on under his jacket and stepped towards the living room, peering down at the brunet on the other side of the couch. He saw the rosiness on the cheeks was slipping away, vanishing into the rest of the body, and Tsuna gazed up curiously with those large honey-colored eyes. "Come on, let's go. We can head to the Palazzo Ducale. It's one of the best attractions here in Venice."

"Palazzo Ducale?" Tsuna turned off the TV and stood up, heading closer to the other to follow. He couldn't help but be curious about everything in Italy, it was only natural. Things just sounded so different compared to home in Japan.

Reborn chuckled and opened the front door to let them both out after Tsuna managed to get his shoes together, scurrying out like the rabbit he is. He grabbed his car keys, letting the keychain dangle, creating musical-like sounds, and locked the door behind. "Yeah, it's known as-"

Tsuna smiled, listening to the detailed workings of Reborn's voice as he went over the history of the gothic building even as they stepped into the car. The brunet didn't mind, it was more interesting than anything else, probably since everything is so new. Perhaps today wouldn't be too bad.

+++++++++++++++++

Tsuna bit into his slice of pizza, happily devouring his little slice of heaven. It was wonderful, so much better than the ones back at home, but that might be expected since its Italy, the original creator. After heading to the Palazzo Ducale and a couple of other historical buildings, the sun had risen high above the sky, alerting the two that lunchtime was close, and they were starving. Apparently, walking all day long had done much to their appetite and everywhere they went, it was crowded from the tourists that flocked into Venice, their eyes greedily examining everything they could. Reborn was the one to decide that it would be best to get out of the sun for the time being and dragged the brunet to one of the top pizza restaurants in the city. He wanted Tsuna to experience true Italian food, not those imitations that the rest of the world tried to create.

At the beginning, once they had sat down in the place, he had watched as Tsuna tried to read the manual with his basic learning before eventually placing the order for the both of them himself. But instead of handing the manual back, Reborn kept it to give the brunet more practice, and continued teaching the Italian language while waiting for their order. Tsuna paid strict attention, too familiar with his tutor's ways regardless of him being younger, and the teaching only stopped when their ordered food arrived.

"So, Reborn," Muttering under his breath, he placed down his pizza slice and wiped his mouth with a napkin, eyes peering up at the other. A half-eaten piece of pizza rested on Reborn's plate with a cold glass of white wine in one hand, nursing the drink. "if you don't mind me asking, how did you get into your job?"

"You mean my profession?"

Tsuna nodded.

The hitman twirled one of his curls, eyes closed shut as if thinking of something. "Why do you want to know so much?"

"I'm just curious. I mean, you dress exactly what one would expect in _that world_ but I was wondering how you got into it in the first place. I had a normal life before I met you in the future after all."

Reborn peeked one eye open, revealing a dark eye as it stared straight into Tsuna's own, watching the other closely before sighing. He didn't enjoy giving out personal details about his past life to anyone but it wasn't as if it could be traced back. "I'm an orphan."

"O-Oh…" Tsuna's shoulders slumped downward and went for his pizza to keep himself from saying something stupid. He wasn't sure on how to respond to that. Just those three words told him quite a bit about how the adult must have been forced to live in order to survive. The kids back home were lucky to find such a wonderful family to keep them from diving deeper into the darkest depths of the world. Nana really is a blessing of a woman.

"I take it you can already guess that I began to take up jobs to earn money when I was younger. However, I'm smart. I'm not like those greedy fools and knew when something is too dangerous. That's why I'm still alive to this day unlike others who were killed off." Reborn sipped on his wine quietly, his fedora on the table. This allowed his spiky black hair to be free from its confinements, catching some of the female tourists' attention, who were looking towards the Italian's way greedily. Their eyes told many things.

"But I'm glad that you managed to survive though. I mean, if you were dead or any way different, I wouldn't have been able to meet up with you."

Reborn chuckled at that, still nursing his glass. "But if I wasn't alive, I might not have brought you into this dark world."

At that, Tsuna shook his head. "No, I would have probably been brought in sooner or later. My father is high in you-know and my great-great-great-grandfather was the starter of the organization. There's no way I would have escaped and anyway, if anyone were to find out about my relationship, I would immediately become a target and be killed off before I knew what was going on." He took another bite of his pizza to keep his mind off things, knowing he had these black eyes staring directly at him intently again. It was uncomfortable but not unwelcoming. He swallowed when he finished his bite, eyes drifting over the room to see more people filling in. "And you were the one that changed my life for the better despite all the chaos you brought into it. It was fun…you know."

The hitman's lips twitched, almost breaking out into a smile but resisted. He shook his head and lifted up his pizza, enjoying the rich taste of Italian cheese and tomatoes. The thick meats that decorated it gave more brilliance to the taste and each bite is exquisite. Reborn found the conversation that was shared between them strange and maybe a little funny too. Most people cursed his existence, of him ever being born, but yet there is someone before him that is glad for him to be alive. Reborn listened to the surrounding area, keeping an ear out for any unwelcome visitors, but sensed none at this time being. It couldn't hurt to be a little careful.

Still, the brunet kept his interest. 'He's definitely a sky element, openly accepting everyone around him. There's no doubt he will become an excellent boss to Vongola.' Reborn chuckled, his eyes observing as the other tried to eat the thick layers of cheese that were beginning to slide off from the slippery tomato sauce. 'Yes, he'll be a wonderful boss.'

Reborn sipped on his white wine slowly again, 'Can't wait to see that future…'

++++++++++++++++

In the evening, the two wandered the sceneries of the night, settling down into one of the many row boats that dwelled in the canals. Reborn sat back, familiar with how Venice is during this time of day from living here after so many years. The canals were all lighted up, making the waters below glow in brilliance, reflecting everything off. Tourists flocked the sides and other boats, examining everything around them with sparkles in their eyes. Tsuna sat at the edge of their own boat, his eyes taking in all the wonderful lustrous, and peered down at the water curiously. His fingers dipped into it, letting the coolness rush through him, and retracted his hand back immediately.

"Tsuna," The hitman commented, lying down at the side of the boat with his legs prompted up onto the edge. His fedora was tilted down, covering his eyes, and appeared like he was asleep but Tsuna knew better. "You may not know but Venice, though known as the city of water, is sinking further into its depths. Every year that passes, this place sinks further in. I live on the outskirts where the residents are located so I'm not really affected but there will come a day when Venice becomes nothing more than an underwater city."

The brunet paused to peer back, scooting closer towards the other. The rower ignored the two below, simply doing his job to move groups back and forth along these waters. It's a job after all. Tsuna smiled, "It'll still be a great city even when underwater. I bet swimming below into its depths will be amazing or they might even make it an aquarium where you can walk down below."

Reborn flicked his fedora upward to get a better look at Tsuna's honey-colored eyes, spotting the earnest emotion of excitement flutter through those orbs. He just smirked and leaned back, wondering how that would look in the future too. Well, if he lived that long for the city to go underwater anyway.

++++++++++++++++++++

Rome was a little more interesting but what Reborn remembered the most was Tsuna sleeping on him during the train ride to and from the place. It was almost the entire ride too and the hitman didn't mind, letting the brunet do as he pleased. There was also Trevi Fountain where he told Tsuna the results of throwing coins in for a wish. It had been amusing to watch the brunet stutter about the thought and eventually run off with a full redness on his face, squealing about one thing or another.

Reborn couldn't really catch what the other had yelled about and chased after, laughing quietly in amusement. This trip hadn't been so bad, no, it was great. Reborn found himself having more fun than he ever had in a long time, something he had only experienced when he was young, and it was all because of Tsuna. The brunet is just too fun to tease and mess with.


	9. Meet the Group

For Tsuna, the next day, after all the trips, had passed by with no troubles at all with the two of them resting after their little adventures. Walking around all day in the hot sun had taken its toll on their bodies and the next morning when they had come back from their trip, they had simply slept in. Neither of them minded about the fact they were sharing the bed together throughout the entire night and morning, quite used to it after it being a week now. Though the brunet had to wonder every now and then when he would head back home, he was getting used to this new setting and Reborn. It was like this Reborn is more human in a sense compared to before but he figured if one had been transformed into a baby, emotions were the last thing that needed to be out of control.

During that free day, they spent that time wondering around the city a little more and eating the wonderful seafood cuisines they served. Tsuna found himself enjoying the various pasta and shrimp dishes, trying something a different each time. He had never been a picky eater, Nana making sure of that whenever she cooked. Still, he was beginning to get used to Venice and, despite his curiosity over everything, he remained attached to Reborn wherever they went, never leaving his future tutor's side.

The hitman didn't mind, he was enjoying this free time to get some good rest that he's been wanting for a long time. All the thoughts of killing and his next target were put out of his mind and, for a few seconds every day when he was around the brunet, he secretly smiled. Of course, he wasn't going to let Tsuna or anyone else know that. It was always hidden underneath his fedora. The two continued to visit anything that was within walking or driving distance for the next day afterwards and even went to one of the cities that were against the ocean on a mountain. The views were breathtaking on how everything seemed to work together and though, they never got through all of it, Tsuna was happy. He smiled for most of the days, completely content with everything around him.

The ninth day since Tsuna's arrival, however, their plans were changed. Tsuna peered up curiously from over the couch he had somewhat claimed for himself seeing as Reborn rarely used it and watched the hitman went over to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Today, the hitman looked the same as always but he seemed…more tense than before. He was curious as to why and hopped off the couch, shutting the TV behind. "Is there something wrong, Reborn?"

The hitman paused at what he was doing for a moment before clicking the button to get the coffee machine running. He held his car and apartment keys in his hand and pocketed it within his jacket. "Ah, I need to head out somewhere today. I just got called for a meeting."

Tsuna blinked his eyes, feeling a little depressed since that would mean he would be left alone. And there was no telling on how long the other would take either. Those mafia meetings, what he's guessing it is, could go on for hours. Reborn immediately picked up the sad state and almost sighed, lifting up his black coffee form the machine once it was finished to sip on the scorching hot liquid. He had no plans on taking the brunet with him there of all place despite knowing it might not be that dangerous. Most of the people there were good heart. Well, most of them. He continued to sip quietly on his black coffee, enjoying the rich taste and the caffeine that came with it.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to take the other along…right? It would be safer with him around since Tsuna had the ability to get into the oddest trouble. Reborn hummed gently to himself, "Do you want to come?"

At those words, the brunet brightened up and was actually tempted to run up and hug the other. He resisted since he'd still liked to be alive after all this. "Sure! But um…where are we going?" Stepping closer to the other, his large eyes peered up, patiently waiting for the other's answer.

"Just to a meeting."

Tsuna tilted his head cutely. "A meeting? What type? Will it be alright with me there?"

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem. As for the other questions, you'll just have to see." Reborn smirked, downing the rest of his coffee, and began to nudge Tsuna out the door, closing it behind him.

++++++++++++++++++++++

"So…where exactly are we?"

Tsuna stared at the building before him, his eyes peering over the odd place curiously. He didn't understand why Reborn would be here for, the man refusing to say anything on the subject, nor the fact of why someone would want a meeting here either. Maybe because it was isolated? Far away from civilization? Tsuna almost wanted to shrug his shoulders at the idea, knowing there would be no answer. Looking further into the place, it's a large wooden house built up on a side of a mountain completely surrounded by trees. It would have looked abandoned if it wasn't for a couple of cars that were parked in the area, Reborn's own about to add to the list. A few lights were on inside but from peaking at the sides, he could see what was within. The place is absolutely quiet, not even the crickets were heard, and the mountain air is thick and heavy. The car lights exposed more of the setting but the darkness was thick, revealing nothing more than what Tsuna already knew. A single dirt path that lead from the main road to the house was left behind them and Reborn, driving, parked next to the others. The engine turned off, the keys were out, and the hitman remained in his seat, staring up at the building. It was clear to Tsuna that Reborn was examining it.

"It's just a meeting place for the rest of the group. It's easier out here where there are less people who can eavesdrop on us." Reborn flicked the end of his fedora upward and stared directly at a camera was that looking at them back. He mentally sighed, his right hand reaching over to the door handle. 'So they're already watching…'

As he exited the vehicle, Tsuna followed along and went straight to Reborn's side with a slight twitch of fear. A place like this just gave him the chills. The building is like one of those cabins in the movies where everyone gets killed and Tsuna never enjoyed horror movies, no, he was absolutely terrified of them. The brunet barely noticed the camera until it moved, making a soft motor sound, and as they went closer to the building, the lenses rotated in a circular movement to focus on them. The sky guardian made a quiet squeak, wanting nothing more than to demand Reborn to tell him what was going, but kept his mouth shut. He would ask when he felt a little bit safer than outside where he felt like all eyes were on him. Swallowing, the nervous butterflies in his stomach continued to flutter around, but strangely, he didn't feel afraid, not at all. Tsuna didn't feel like he should be afraid of what was to come and that gave him the strength to keep moving.

Reborn opened the front door of the place without any hesitation as if overly familiar with this place and listened to the hinges rattle, squeaking loudly in protest. Immediately upon doing so, he peered inside from his spot and noticed that it was dark inside. Still, no concern flared within his thoughts and pressed on, holding the door open for Tsuna to follow. The brunet kept himself attached to his arms and it is an endearing act, kinda cute. The hitman just couldn't bring himself to mind, accepting the tightness of the arms on his own. His and Tsuna's shadow stretched across the wooden ground from the sun behind, dancing across the floorboards as they moved. Then the door closed, engulfing the two into the darkness that had settled in the entranceway. Tsuna let out a squeak and the only thing that was preventing him from outright panicking was person he was clinging to. Reborn almost chuckled in amusement at how the brunet is acting and stepped forward, dragging the teen with him.

They heard some footsteps coming towards them from within the darkness, tensing slightly, and then the lights flickered on. Tsuna winced as the brightness caught him off guard, squinting to adjust his eyes, and freed a hand to bring it up for cover. He guessed that Reborn didn't have the same problem since he felt no movement from the other.

_"Reborn, what the hell do you think you're doing?"_

'That voice…' Tsuna rapidly blinked his eyes and focused on the group before him at the end of the hallway. There were five in total and each one of them was staring back at them curiously, mostly at him. One was currently standing just a few feet away, the same one that had spoken. As for the rest of the room they were in, it was mostly dull in taste. Empty, it was completely empty save for the table that is in the center. If there were doors, they were closed, preventing him from seeing what was on the other side.

Reborn continued to walk forward as if nothing was wrong, pulling Tsuna along. " _Whatever do you mean?_ "

The woman before them is incredibly beautiful, if not rough looking around the edges. It was clear to anyone that she was not someone to trifle with. She looked in her mid-twenties and has long blue hair that fell just past her shoulders. Tsuna peered over the uniform she is wearing, finding it like those military-types he had seen on TV but more plain. It was dull in color but the short skirt left it revealing her long thing legs with the combat boots at the bottom with a slight heel on the bottom. A cap rested on her head, making her appearance neat and professional looking. But her eyes, they were filled with rage, and that rage was being directed straight towards Reborn. As she came stomping over, her heels clicking against the hardwood floors, she stopped before the two and pointed straight at Tsuna, who jumped at the venom in her eyes and voice. " _I'm talking about this! You're not supposed to bring anyone else here!_ "

It took him a moment to realize who this is but that fiery personality and facial features just gave her away. 'Lal Mirch!' Tsuna's eyes widened in disbelief, he couldn't believe it. He was actually seeing the normal version of the crazy woman before she got turned into a baby and perhaps in some normal clothes then those weird ones she had been wearing before in the future. Examining closer, he noticed that she didn't have that same scars on her face. Perhaps it happened later in time? Or was it when she had been transformed? He wasn't entirely certain as he never did get the story about the Arcobaleno. As realization settled within his mind, he turned to the others, looking them over. 'Then that means…'

" _Now, now, Lal. Let's hear what Reborn has to say first before you start accusing._ " A tall man in a red Chinese silk garb stood up from the table, stepping closer to the group with a soft smile on his lips. His long black hair that is braided back swung behind him at his movements and he gave off a relaxing aura that seemed to put the room at ease. He went towards Tsuna and leaned over, his black eyes observing the brunt closely. The sky guardian blinked as a small tint colored his cheeks as he realized how close the other was to him. The Chinese man chuckled when the brunet squeaked in embarrassment, clinging tighter to Reborn. " _Look, he's basically harmless._ "

As soon as he said that, he reached over to pat the top of Tsuna's head, listening to another squeak from the physical contact. Tsuna didn't resist and instead closed one eye when his bangs shifted too close. The redness darkened, spreading across his entire face in awkwardness, and stared down at the ground to keep his attention off the Chinese man before looking back up. Though there was an age difference between the baby version and the adult one, he could still make out the person. It was I-pin's master, Fong. It seems that despite the changes in his physical form, his personality had not changed a bit.

" _See, absolutely harmless._ " Fong continued to smile, watching as the blush grew in shades, and almost looked like he wanted to laugh. The monkey on the martial artist's right shoulder peered up from behind, its beery eyes staring straight at the brunet for a moment. As if deciding that the other was safe, it jumped off and landed onto the teen. It then wrapped its arms around the neck and rubbed its face into Tsuna's right cheek, who giggled at the ticklish feeling. The brunet pulled away from Reborn to reach up, his fingers drifting the soft fur of the white monkey. Fong retreated back to watch the scene before him, turning back to the rest of the group. " _Well, if my partner likes him already, that means he's okay._ "

" _It doesn't matter! We're not supposed to bring anyone else with us for safety!_ " Lal argued back, tempted to fight against Reborn, who looked unaffected by all the yelling. He just tilted his fedora downward and strode towards the table with the rest of the group that was sitting there.

" _Lal, he's my charge, I can't leave him at my place alone._ " Reborn sighed, nodding to the others that were sitting at the table. He instantly took a seat, leaning back against the chair with his arms folded across his chest. " _There's no telling what could have happen. He's has enough bad luck as it is._ "

Tsuna ignored the dialogue that was going on, not understanding a single thing, though he was able to pick out a few words. He could pierce together a few things in an attempt to make a sentence, but after that, the conversation has moved on. They simply spoke too fast for him to follow and instead focused on the people that were next to Reborn. He recognized them as Mammon or is it Viper now, Skull, and Verde. He didn't see Colonello anywhere but if he remembered correctly, he hadn't originally been in the Arcobaleno group. As he counted the members, he noticed that one of the seven is missing and guessed by the elements that it had to be the sky flame. However, he had never met the original sky Arcobaleno other than her daughter, Aria, and the granddaughter, Yuni. It would be interesting to see how the original looked, probably not too far away from the descendants though. Tsuna turned away from the group for a moment and looked around the room to keep his mind occupied since everyone was still speaking Italian, petting the monkey on his shoulders. He didn't know what to and after a while, he just stared at the group in confusion.

Fong, who is still standing beside the teen, noticed this and held out his hand. " _Come on, let's go sit down._ "

However, due to the fact that it was in Italian, Tsuna simply stared only getting the words 'come' and 'go' out of the whole sentence, his face clearly stating a 'I-don't-know-what-the-hell-you're-saying' expression. The only one that recognized this complication was Reborn, who let out a small sigh. Still, the brunet took the offered hand, letting himself get pulled along towards the table. But that didn't stop Fong from throwing a glance towards the hitman, having noticed the expression.

Reborn crossed his legs and leaned his head back to speak, " _He doesn't understand Italian, only Japanese._ "

The Chinese man peered back to Tsuna and switched languages for better apprehending. " _Japanese, huh…_ Well, then, my name is Fong."

"O-Oh…" Tsuna felt a little more at ease at being able to understand and opened his mouth to speak. There was some hesitation as he tried to remember how to introduce himself. After all, in Japan, it was the surnames first and anywhere else it was backwards. "I'm Tsuna Sa-"

Bang!

A gunshot rang, the bullet just gazing Tsuna's face. It had been close enough to cut off some pieces of hair and the teen stiffened immediately. His eyes glanced towards the direction of the bullet, at Reborn, and swallowed thickly. Everyone else froze in their movements, watching the setting with apprehension, their minds trying to work out what was happening. Even Verde took that moment to look away from his paperwork to see what was going on. The hitman gave a huffed, his eyes clearing warning the brunet from speaking further. It had been the same act he had done during the visit to the Vongola headquarters and it was enough for Tsuna to know the meaning.

The brunet gave a nervous laugh, "J-Just Tsuna." He squeaked out, fearing for his life, and hid behind Fong for protection. He couldn't help but quiver despite being used to Reborn's absurd ways. The monkey that had been on Tsuna's shoulder jumped back onto Fong, copying the other in hiding behind for shelter, peeking up shyly.

Everyone in the room stared at Reborn in question for a little longer before going back to their own things. They knew better than to interrogate the hitman, not when he was willing to shoot someone already. Fong sighed, shaking his head at Reborn's attitude, and slowly tugged the now scared Tsuna to his seat, which happened to be next to hitman. He had to pull over an extra chair from another room and decided to sit down next to Tsuna to offer some support, knowing how Reborn acted around people. Lal remained standing in her spot before she grumbled in irritation, finally flopping next to the hit man. She immediately crossed her arms, not pleased with the extra person joining in. From beside her, there was Skull and next to him is an empty seat.

Tsuna remained quiet, not sure on what to say, especially with Reborn's watchful eyes on him. He fiddled with his fingers, trying to keep his attention occupied and from doing something stupid. Silence settled on the room, no one brave or stupid enough to speak out.

Except for Skull.

The purple-hair man, or was it teen, stood up from his seat with a wide grin. "Well, since no one is going say anything, I will. Let me introduce myself, I'm Skull. It's nice to meet you!" He grinned happily, the piercing on his mouth following his lip movements, and reached out with his right hand for a shake.

Tsuna brightened up at that, returning the gesture, and smiled, starting to relax again. "Likewise. I'm Tsuna."

That small smile made Skull's grin grow wider. "Also, I'm kn-"

"No one wants to know who you are." Viper cut in, silencing the to-be cloud Arcobaleno. He picked up a large number of bills and put them away somewhere under his cloak for protection.

At that, Skull deflated and looked like he was going to cry but he didn't. His shoulders slumped downward, settling back into his seat depressingly.

Tsuna sighed, knowing that feeling of being put down. He was used to it after all, even before baby Reborn showed up in his life. The brunet tilted his head to the side, letting his bangs slide downward, "Skull, I wouldn't mind hearing about you."

This small remark made the purple-haired man shine brightly once more.

'Guess the Skull in this time is still being ridiculed by the others. But…he's not a bad guy.' Tsuna leaned against the table and sighed as he looked around everything. 'I feel like I'm taking care of the kids at home when I'm talking to Skull.'

As he thought that, the door screeched open again, bringing everyone's attention towards the entrance. Tsuna blinked as he watched only half the table turned to look, guessing they already knew who it is. However, he didn't and peered back to see a young woman, one Tsuna didn't recognize at all, but was very familiar in features. The newcomer appeared to be somewhere in her late-twenties and wobbled forward, holding a hand on her stomach as if rubbing it. She seemed to struggle slightly but made it forward without anyone's help and placed a basket onto the table.

The woman waved at the group with a bright smile once she got settled. " _Sorry, I'm late. The traffic to get to the roads here was pretty bad today._ " She pulled the chair back, Skull helping her get settled, and peered around the other members. It was only then that she noticed the extra person at the table, not that he was hard to miss in the mismatch of people. He somewhat stood out in his ordinary clothes. The woman didn't skip a beat and welcomed the person without any hesitation. " _Oh, we have a guest?_ "

"Ah…" Tsuna noticed that she was looking at him and straightened himself up. "H-Hello."

The woman blinked, not expecting the language change.

Fong intercepted instantaneously to clear things up. " _This is Tsuna, Reborn's charge. He doesn't understand Italian, only Japanese._ "

" _Oh, well then…_ " She glanced at the hitman curiously. It was, after all, not in his nature to take care of someone. He was more likely to kill the person he was assigned to, whether on purpose or accidentally. There was also the fact that Reborn is a very paranoid person, refusing anyone to get to close, much attach himself to a person. This is the mafia, a very dark world. Pushing the questions out of her mind, she smiled at Tsuna. "Hello, I'm Luce, nice to meet you."

"Pleasure, oh, and I'm Tsuna."

"Aw, aren't you the most adorable little thing." Luce cooed, standing up with some struggling due to the size of her still-growing child. She went around the table and patted the brunet on the head, doing the same thing Fong had done earlier. The woman almost squealed at how soft the brown locks were, rubbing her fingers deeper. It was too clear that Tsuna is a kind-hearted child, something unusual in the mafia, and someone that is easy to take advantage of. "How can someone like you be around big ol' bad Reborn? He's way too gloomy for someone like you. Now don't ever become like him, alright?"

"H-Hai…" The teen could only blink, staring at the woman as if she was crazy. Did she just say that? Did she really just say that? But no one at the table did anything, not even Reborn. This just left Tsuna confused, his expression showed it. It was only then that he remembered soon after. 'Luce is the boss, of course she can get away with anything.'

"Oh, you're so cute. I wish I could keep you. Reborn, just where did you get him?" Luce hugged the teen from behind, wary of the budging of her stomach, but that didn't stop her from nearly crushing Tsuna with her vice grip. She rubbed her face into the soft hair, enjoying the sensation, and made another cooing sound from the back of her throat. Tsuna made no movement to get away, though he did struggle to get some air into his lungs. The arms were wrapped around his shoulders and necks, preventing him from doing so. "And from whom?"

"I can't tell you that." Reborn responded, staring at the scene before him. It was funny to say at the least and almost wanted to laugh at Tsuna's misery.

"That's too bad."

Fong decided to cut in, saving Tsuna after receiving a desperate pleading look. He outstretched his hand towards the teen, trying to catch the soon-to-be sky Arcobaleno. "Luce, I believe you are crushing him now."

Luce blinked and then looked down at the brunet. "Oh, sorry." She loosened her grip, allowing enough room for Tsuna to shift and get some air. His face was burning bright red, the first time someone else beside his own mother hugging him like that. Verde had gone back to work, the sounds of his pen scribbling filled the room. Viper was back with his money, counting a new batch that had appeared out of nowhere. Everyone else just seemed to be watching the interactions with curiosity, finding it amusing. Luce soon turned to Fong, who had placed his arm back down in relief, and stared at him for a moment or two before glancing down at Tsuna. A smile appeared on her lips. "Here, Fong, you take him." She gave a hard shove, pushing the brunet towards the other. Neither of them had time to react before Tsuna landed onto Fong's lap with a loud yelp. He would have fallen back onto the floor head first if the older man hadn't wrapped his right arm around the waist, holding the teen up.

The to-be storm Arcobaleno eyed the female with a calm expression though his eyes showed a little bit of panic inside. He clearly hadn't expected such a response. "L-Luce, what was that for?"

Tsuna blushed at his position, not sure on what to do. He never thought in his entire life that this would happen. Never! He was sitting on Fong of all people! It's ridiculous.

Luce just smiled with a cunning edge in her eyes as if plotting something out. "I'm just testing something. And I was right. You two look cute together too."

"Huh?" The two chocked out and then glanced at each other. Tsuna's face couldn't turn any redder than it already was and closed his eyes to prevent himself from doing something stupid while Fong brought up his other hand, his sleeve covering his face from the nose down. But there was a noticeable light tint on the cheeks, growing the longer time passed. Reborn mentally grumbled, not entirely sure on why, but didn't do anything about the situation. He wanted nothing more than to tear Tsuna away from Fong.

"You said 'too'." Viper threw in. "Who's the other person?"

"Reborn." Luce clapped her hands together as if it was obvious. Her smile didn't leave and she peered at the hitman for a reaction and was disappointed when she got nothing. Reborn's expressions were too tight for anything and were far too unreadable. How boring.

The number one hitman glanced away and Tsuna just sat still, not entirely sure on what to do. Slowly, he slipped off the lap, offering apologizes to the other, and settled back into his seat with his shoulders slumped. It was clear he hadn't gotten over this little incidence. The Chinese man waved it off, knowing it wasn't the brunet's fault, but didn't say anything, probably not trusting himself at the moment. He still looked startled, one hand still covering his face.

Luce just giggled and bended over, continuing to talk as if nothing had happened. "If only you were a few years older, it would be perfect. Too bad. Well, how old are you, Tsuna?"

"F-Fifteen."

The entire table paused what they were doing to stare except for Reborn, who already knew this. There was a passing expression on each person that showed disbelief. A muttered "Really?" went around the table.

Luce was first to speak. "Fifteen? But you only look around twelve."

"He is quite short." Reborn retorted with a smirk.

"Shut up!" Tsuna pouted, slumping further into his chair, tempted to bang his head against the table in frustration. That comment just bruised his ego, not as if he had much of one after all the abuse he went through from school.

"Poor kid, probably gets abused by Reborn all the time too." Verde chuckled, shaking his head with his right hand was holding up his pen, temporally ignoring his paperwork. "Whoever chose you to stay with Reborn is incredibly stupid." He ignored the glare he got from the said person, not caring at all, and went back to scribbling on his notes.

Lal decided to add to that with a snort, "Damn right, the kid probably has been threatened multiple times and what happened earlier proves it." Luce had a confused look at that, hands against his stomach, but Fong leaned over to fill her in. The woman was now bearing an angry motherly-type scowl, hands on her hips as she looked down at Reborn in disappointment. Tsuna didn't know who was more frightening, her or Reborn. Probably Luce considering she's the boss of everyone here and knew how to most likely control them. Lal continued to speak, finding the situation hilarious, "I'm actually amazed the kid is still alive right now. Most people would usually be dead or worse."

Reborn growled, not liking all the remarks that had been aimed at him, and clicked his gun to alert everyone that the safety is off. "Let's just start this damn meeting already. Now."

The chattering stopped instantly after hearing the hitman speak so venomously, the poison clear within the air. They were touching dangerous grounds, one that would earn them death if they went any further into it, but then they turned to Tsuna, who squeaked in surprise. He never liked it when everyone's eyes were on him. It always made him feel uncomfortable and under pressure.

"Still…what about him?" Lal grumbled, unfolding her arms, and placed them on top of the table. "He can't listen in even if he doesn't know what's going on. He can easily give something away if he relays it back to someone else."

Reborn didn't think that would happen but didn't put out an argument for obvious reasons. It would be too much trouble to explain the situation after all.

It was then that a voice cut in. "Then I'll watch him."


	10. Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything written after here has not been reedited, only chapters 1-9 have.

Everyone at the table looked to the green-haired scientist, who sighed and pushed up his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose.

"I already know what this meeting is about. I just showed up to be accounted for and anyway, I wasn't planning on listening." Verde snorted, tapping his pen against the table before writing something down on his paper as if an idea had suddenly struck him. His green eyes stared at his documents then at the teen in question for a moment when he looked up. "Unless any of you have a better idea?"

Reborn looked uncertain about leaving his charge alone with the mad scientist. He never really liked him and was often disturbed by the man's behavior. But he couldn't find an argument against it, not a single one was forming in his head and no one else could either. Though it was obvious that not a single person liked the idea but what could they do?

Tsuna blinked, catching onto the conversation quickly since they were still speaking Japanese (lucky him). "It's alright. I'll go with him. I'll be perfectly fine so don't worry."

"Fine…I'll allow you to go." The hit man gave in and allowed Verde to pick up his work and walk off into another room, basically cutting him off from the rest of the group. Tsuna followed along, jogging slightly to keep up.

As the sky guardian tried to keep up, his eyes watched Verde carefully, remembering what the man had done to him and his friends in his time, and he felt angry about it but he knew there was no need to get mad at someone that hadn't done anything yet. Still, he was sure that this Verde wouldn't do anything to him. That he was certain. His intuition told him so. As Tsuna closed the door behind him, sealing off that last thing connecting him to the group, Verde tossed his materials onto a table that was in the center and flopped down into a chair, opening the pages to where he had left off. He instantly began scribbling down on the paper, not caring about the teen that was just standing near the table curiously.

Tsuna looked around the room, figuring out that this is the kitchen of the house and at the moment, it was dark and that was probably because there were only a couple of lights turned on. He looked at the place a little longer before sitting down at the table, watching Verde write from his position.

However, he didn't get to stare long.

"What?"

Tsuna blinked.

Verde looked up from his papers, noticing Tsuna's gaze. "You're staring at me. Why?"

"O-Oh…Sorry." The sky guardian snapped his eyes down to the table and placed his hands together, folding them. But Verde's stare didn't leave him and was now observing him instead. The honey orbs looked back up in confusion.

Verde leaned to the side, pushing his work away. This action got Tsuna to raise an eyebrow at him. Verde not bothering with his experiments? That was impossible from what he knew and what he knew was the Verde always finished his experiments. "What's your last name?"

Tsuna blinked then paled as he remembered what Reborn had done to him. "I can't tell you, I'd rather not get shot. Reborn can get really scary when he wants to…which is often…and most of the time…Even if he's not here, I know he'll find out some way."

Verde chuckled darkly. "He's not that scary once you got him figured out. But I guess you're right about getting shot. I wouldn't want to get shot either." He huffed, twirling his pen loosely in his fingers as if bored. "So what do you know about us?"

Tsuna for a moment wanted to spill everything but held himself back and decided to go for the best route and that was to act like he knew didn't know what was going on. "Nothing at all. Reborn doesn't talk very much so I know almost nothing about him as well." A lot of that was true. Reborn doesn't talk about himself at all and yet he knows everything about everyone else. It wasn't really fair, not at all. Still, it wasn't as if he could go up and ask.

Verde scoffed, putting down the writing instrument and folded his arms and leaned over onto the table. He was more interested in the teen then his own work, it's been a while since that has happened. "You're lying on something…" Tsuna almost winced at that but held it in and tensed. Verde didn't investigate any further though, he just sighed. "Well, whatever, Reborn has always been silent about things. He's so paranoid that it took us forever to get him to at least be in the same room with the rest of us. He doesn't want to help us at all. Honestly, I hate him."

Tsuna blinked, listening in carefully, ears all opened. He didn't know much about Verde and here he is, hearing Verde's inner world all of a sudden. What a trip this was becoming… As Tsuna watched the other, he leaned in, not wanting to lose Verde just yet, this was perhaps the only chance he would ever get anything like this out of the man. "And why's that? Why do you hate him so much?"

A laugh came from the other's lips while he pushed up his glasses. His half-lidded eyes, sharp and focus, glared at the papers beside him. "My reasons are my own but out of all of us, I hate him the most. I always have and I always will. I will do anything to make sure he falls. But as for the reason, who knows? Perhaps he's rub me the wrong way or it's the way he acts. Who knows?"

Tsuna stared…something wasn't right. Something was really wrong and off. His hyper intuition told him so and slowly the wheels in his head began to move as if something had clicked. "Verde…are you perhaps…jealous of him?"

The green eyes snapped up to him. " _What_?"

Tsuna jumped at the harshness and made a loud squeak. He almost fell out of his chair in shock.

Verde's previous relaxed eyes were now glaring. "And why the _hell_ would I be jealous of him of all things?"

He wanted answers. No one talks to him like that, _never_.

Tsuna shrunk at that threatening tone but he couldn't stop the words that came tumbling out of his mouth. It was as if someone else was saying them but at the same time, it felt so natural. "It's the way you talk, it's like you are jealous of him. And are you perhaps…lonely?" Tsuna tilted his head to the side, pausing to take a breath. He couldn't stop himself from speaking, he had to finish what he started. "You want attention but you also want someone that can stand against and beside you. That person…became Reborn. He's smart, good-looking, and popular, if not dangerous. And you…you'd rather be in your studies and work on your next project. Two opposites but very similar people, I see that now."

Tsuna's eyes darkened, he had realized something, something he would never been able to do in his time. Here he got to know Verde a little more and slightly better (but they are still considered strangers) and though the two, the one in his time and the one in front of him, were slightly different, there wasn't much difference. The way Verde had interacted, the way he had kept an eye on Reborn (without appearing so but Tsuna had caught hints), the way he was interested in Reborn's problems (and be seen as not), it all came together, fitting into place like a puzzle piece.

"You want a rival, someone to compete with, but you got someone that was beyond your ability in keeping up. You know you can defeat everyone that gets in your way except for him and you hate that, you hate being defeated in something you're the best at. And because of that, you wait for Reborn to slip up, to fall, so you can claim your victory. So you indulge yourself deeper into your experiments, trying to find a way."

Tsuna paused to stare at the green-haired man with a soft smile on his lips, keeping calm and collected throughout the entire process. Where he had gotten that bravery and strength, he didn't know. It was strange to him as well but it came flooding out all at once and it didn't feel bad. Like stated before, it felt natural.

"But the problem is that Reborn doesn't like to be defeated either so in the end, you've got this competitive relationship going on. You don't hate him, you just want to see him fall. You want to win and stand above him. You want that victory. You want to prove that you're better than him."

With that Tsuna stopped, taking a deep breath to watch the scientist. He hoped and prayed that Verde wasn't going to snap and attack him. He'd like to avoid pain, he had enough at home. But what he got was sheer silence and that wasn't making him feel any better, no, it actually made him feel scared. Verde was pale, staring at his papers in silence. Tsuna was afraid to say anything else and just kept quiet.

"If I…"

The brunet glanced up at that those whispered words.

"I wonder, if I…if I _kidnap_ you, what Reborn would do? Would he panic?" Verde was smiling and suddenly Tsuna felt very terrified and backed away from the mad man, worried about his own safety. "Or would he just shrug and not care? Ah, the possibilities."

The brunet swallowed and opened his mouth. "I think…it'll be the later."

Verde smirked. "Don't think so."

"H-Huh?" Now it was Tsuna's turn to be confused.

Verde leaned forward, ignoring everything around them. This was more interesting than his next project and he could always complete it later. This…This person was very fascinating. He was different than everyone else, more so than those just outside this room and even more than Reborn. "You should hold yourself in higher regard. But still, I guess anyone who's with Reborn wouldn't really know. He doesn't like to make things obvious or act on his feelings either. However, I know that Reborn is attached to you, more than he should be." Verde chuckled as if it was the most amusing thing in the world. He was happy. This kid had made him _happy_ even though the lecture had hit a nerve.

Still, he realized something very important while talking. Verde grumbled slightly at it, this would probably be the only and last time he'll ever meet the teen. There's no way Reborn would ever let him get this close again. 'Oh well…'

Tsuna tilted his head, not understanding it. Why would Verde say that? It didn't make any sense to him. Reborn cared more than he should? He didn't get it, not at all.

Verde placed his arm underneath his chin, holding up his head. "You're an interesting kid. I'd like to talk to you more but it's too bad your guardian won't ever allow that. Reborn doesn't trust me at all, no, it's more along that he hates me." The green-haired man laughed in amusement, such was his fate. He had already lost something from the very beginning that could have helped him. It was a shame really…

Tsuna bit his bottom lip at that. Something was telling him to do this, to do what he was planning… Why? He wasn't too sure but he had to. Reaching over, he took Verde's abandoned pen and pulled one of the sheets of paper that was mostly blank towards himself. Verde watched curiously as Tsuna wrote something down. "Here, at this date, at this time, at this place, I'll show up alone. I promise." He smiled, pushing everything back to the scientist.

Verde glanced at the words and blinked in surprise, not at the fact that he was getting something, but what was written down. "Are you joking? In ten years? By the time that comes around, we'll both have forgotten."

Tsuna smiled sadly. "Yeah, I know, but I won't forget. I'm not able to. I can just hope that you'll show up. I am, after all, doing you a favor."

Verde laughed. "You really are an interesting one. Alright, I'll remember. Anything else?"

"Well since you get to see me…can I ask for a favor? One you cannot deny and don't bother asking what it is, I'm not going to tell you right now until then. And don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you and I've already promised to come alone, just by myself."

Verde was now rubbing his chin, he was fascinated as hell but still, it was suspicious. But _ten_ years? That was…strange. Actually, completely bizarre and it continued to spark his interest. Finally, after a few minutes of thinking, he decided. "Alright, it's a deal."

Tsuna's face lighted up immediately, he was almost shining. "Thanks so much. Can't wait to see you then."

Verde shook his head at the teen and quickly pulled the subject away and prevented them from going into an awkward silence. "So are you sure you don't want to tell me about your identity?" Verde's eyes were calculating something, watching the teen carefully.

Tsuna shook his head at that and smiled. "Nope, I need to remain alive if I'm going to go meet you in ten years."

They laughed for a moment before the door opened, the rest of the group stepping in.

The two inside turned towards them and Verde instantly went back to his normal attitude, pushing his glasses up to hide his expression. Tsuna gave a small smile at their presence.

"Are you all done?" Tsuna asked.

Luce returned the smile with one of her own. "Yep but we stopped earlier because we thought we heard laughter. What's so funny? I don't think I have ever heard Verde laugh before."

"And you never will…" The scientist retorted, going back to his paperwork. He sent a glance over to Tsuna to warn him not to tell what they had just talked about.

Reborn caught the shared look and immediately, his black eyes were on the brunet, basically glaring. "Tsuna?"

The sky guardian shook his head. "Sorry, Reborn. I promised." He gave a weak smile, knowing inside that he had made no such thing. Verde threw him a glance in question but didn't argue it. That was probably for the best. But the hit man didn't like the answer he got and was tempted to force it out, however, the pleading look Tsuna shot him held him back from doing so. He huffed and leaned back against the wall, mentally grumbling.

To everyone else, they were more curious as to why Verde had laughed. It was an unnatural thing to them and to think of even hearing it was even more so.

During that time, Tsuna suddenly noticed that someone in the group was missing and used that chance to change the topic and draw everyone's attention away from him and Verde. "Hm? Where's Skull?"

Luce sighed at that. "Lal, Reborn, Skull, and even Viper got into an argument outside and things got a little bad. Skull got the most damage and we had to leave him in the other room when we heard you guys."

"He's probably crying like usual." Lal sneered, grumbling under her breath.

Tsuna should have known better than to ask. As everyone followed back into the main room to where the table was located at, Tsuna spotted Skull a few feet away, crying. The purple-haired man was beaten up pretty badly, sprawled out on the floor. A little bit of blood was coming from a few cuts and a couple of bruises were starting to appear on where skin was visible. As everyone began to sit down, they went into a deep conversation about something strange in Italian, momentarily forgetting about Tsuna. The sky guardian, bored, glanced at Skull, who let out a moan, and kept himself away from the group, not wanting to get hurt anymore than he already was. Tsuna knew that the only one that would notice him missing would be Reborn but if the hit man didn't say anything on what he could and couldn't do, Tsuna will do whatever he wants.

"Are you alright, Skull?" Tsuna asked, kneeling down to reach Skull's head. The helmet had been thrown to the side, far from reach but it gave Tsuna a view of the face that was usually hidden underneath it (even though Skull hasn't been wearing it when they met at the table). He pulled back instantly when he felt the other wince. "Do you want me to get you something? And where's the first-aid kit?"

The purple-haired man sniffed, glancing up from his position to stare as if Tsuna had grown another head. Skull couldn't believe it… There was actually someone that was willing to help him. Everyone else always made fun of him, ignore him, or use him as a punching bag, Reborn being the main culprit in that. The only two that were generally kind to him was Luce and Fong. Slowly, Skull pointed to a desk at one of the large drawers to answer that last question. Tsuna nodded instantly and went towards it before pausing, there were about four drawers. He pointed to one of them and moved to the next one when he got a shake. When he got a nod in return on the third one, he opened it and spotted a white metal box that had a red cross on it. Picking it up, he came back to Skull's side and opened up the little thing. Tsuna, used to bandaging himself up due to Reborn's harsh training (someone had to do it and Shamal wasn't going to), picked up a few of the wraps and placed them aside before going for the disinfectant. Using a couple of cotton balls that were stored inside a clean container, he dabbed them into the cold liquid, leaving it there, and looked up.

"I'm going to pull off your clothes, alright?" Tsuna didn't wait for an answer since there was no need to. Carefully, he removed the leather garments apart, only to the waist, taking a good look over the bruised body. He winced slightly at the site that greeted him, there were so many cuts and purple and black spots that he couldn't help but wonder how much Skull went through every day. He pressed the disinfectant-filled cotton balls onto the first cut.

Skull let out a yelp immediately.

"S-Sorry…" Tsuna continued to tap the wounds lightly. "It can't be helped, just bear with it alright. Hmm… How about this? Why don't you continue where you left off after you told me your name?"

The will-be-cloud arcobaleno snapped his head up in astonishment. He was beginning to like this kind-hearted person more and more. "W-Well, I'm a stunt man known as 'Skull from Hell'." He tried to keep his voice still as the liquid went over another cut.

Tsuna blinked and tilted his head, pausing for a second before going back. "A stunt man? For what?"

"A-Anything really. Sometimes I would ride a motorcycle through a ring of fire, most of the time there's about three or four of them with some distance apart from each one. Other times, I would have to jump off a bridge."

Tsuna almost dropped the glass bottle in shock and paled at that last part. "That sounds…dangerous."

Skull brightened up, not dampened at all. "Who do you think you're talking too? I'm the best!" His grin didn't fade at all, he didn't even notice when Tsuna went over another cut. "I always wear my trusty helmet to offer some protection too but it's also to make me look cool."

"I guess…that's better than none, right?" Tsuna was pretty sure he knew about which helmet and continued to press the disinfectant into the wounds. He had to nudge some of the leather pieces further to the side to get to some of those hidden cuts.

"But even with the helmet, I've suffered many broken bones, bruises, etc, etc, you know, the usual stuff. But the only thing that doesn't get harmed is my head."

Tsuna paused at that. "Then why…don't you stop? Isn't that getting too dangerous?" The brunet ceased cleaning, finding it good enough and went for the bandages. He kept an ear out to listen though.

Skull laughed. "What are you talking about? I love it! It's so much fun! And anyway, bones and cuts will always heal!"

Tsuna shook his head at that, wrapping a long piece of bandage around Skull's torso. His smile never left his lips.

"But you know…" The purple-haired man's tone saddened, forcing Tsuna to lift his head up at it. "Ever since I've come here, I've missed those days. I really felt alive, you know, flying off a cliff, doing a nose drive with a plane, all of those things were the best."

Tsuna finished placing the final bandage on Skull's arm and stepped back to look over his work. He had to admit, he was far too used to doing these sorts of things. "There done."

At this, Skull blinked and looked himself over before pulling his purple suit back on. He twisted around from his spot and for the first time, Tsuna noticed something.

'Those white bands…they aren't there…' The brunet tilted his head. Everything else was there, the purple teardrop tattoo and the piercings but the bands weren't. Looking back into the first-aid kit, he found three that could be used and peeled them off. Skull watched him curiously, seeing as he had already been fixed up. Tsuna lifted the first two bands up and placed them on the opposite cheek, in the location he remembered seeing them in, and pulled back to view how it looked. He smiled softly and placed the last one near the forehead, somewhat hidden in the bangs. Now Skull looked as he did when he was a baby.

"Hm?" Skull touched the three bands. "What's this for?"

Tsuna blinked, turning a little red in embarrassment. "Ah, sorry. I thought it looked right, right there. If you don't like it, you can just take it off, they're not permanent."

The purple-haired man tilted his head in question and stood up to head over to desk for a mirror. When he pulled it out from one of the drawers, he peered at his reflection as he came back, sitting back down. "Hey, I look cool like this!" Tsuna smiled in response, glad that he had done something right. Skull had a large grin on his face and stared at Tsuna. "You know you're like the first person to actually be this nice to me (except for Fong and Luce)! And you even listened to me all the way through my story too!"

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah! Everyone else tends to interrupt me! So it makes me really happy that you actually care enough to listen even though we've just met!"

Tsuna let out a soft chuckle and unconsciously reached over to pat Skull's shoulder in an area where he hadn't been hurt. "That's too bad. But you're not a bad person. Perhaps a little weak and somewhat gullible but you really aren't a bad person." He stood up, dusting down his pants for some dirt that had gotten onto him during the time he had been sitting. He outstretched his hand for Skull to take. "Come on. Let's go back to the table, alright?"

The purple-haired man smiled in return. "Okay."

During that time while the two had been talking, the rest of the group had been observing them, watching as Tsuna charm Skull. Reborn clenched his fingers down into the fabric of his suit. He had managed to keep his face calm and not give away anything on what he was thinking. 'I'm not jealous…I can't be jealous…'

Verde eyed the hit man from his spot and smirked.

"Reborn?" Luce called out, catching the hit man's attention, she was speaking in Japanese after switching back. "Really, where did that kid come from? And who is he exactly? I've never seen anyone influence someone like that before and that fast too."

Reborn tilted his fedora upward to get a better look at the female. "I'm not entirely sure…and what do you mean by that? Influence?"

"That boy has the power to affect the people around him even after just meeting them. It's not really strong at the moment but it'll grow as he gets older and once he's able to hone it, he'll become a very powerful person. And with that power of his, he'll command a large group of people, all loyal to him. People like that are very dangerous." But then Luce sighed and gave a small smile at the sight of the two behind talking. "But it's obvious that he's not a bad person, you can tell just by watching him interact with Skull. He's very kindhearted and caring. A person you can't help but love."

Reborn leaned back against the chair, watching as the two arrive at the table and glanced towards the clock that was hanging on the wall. It was about time he left before anymore digging on who Tsuna is could happen. "Well, I better get going. We've stayed here long enough. Tsuna, lets go." He ignored the curious looks from the others, even Tsuna was surprised by the sudden announcement. But the brunet just blinked in confusion and followed along, not arguing. As they left, he made a quick good-bye wave to the rest of the group.

"Bye, bye!"

A couple of the others returned the gesture and watched as the door closed, feeling the room darken in atmosphere at the disappearance of the cheerful brunet. They stared at each other for a second, not sure why they were suddenly feeling like that.

Tsuna hadn't bothered questioning Reborn when they went into the car and instantly drove off. However, his eyes didn't leave the hit man and finally questioned after a couple of minutes. "Is something wrong, Reborn?"

Reborn's black orbs flickered over for a second then back to the road. "Nothing, I was just getting irritated at them. I'd rather not be around them for too long."

'Reborn…' Tsuna thought to himself, puzzled by what Reborn had said. 'Are you…lying to me?' He just nodded to show that he had heard and returned his eyes to the road. "So…where are we going next?"

"Hmm? Oh, back home, I guess. I believe you should be hungry by now. Maybe we can stop somewhere and get something to eat."

"Okay, sure."

Tsuna glanced back to Reborn for a moment before sighing again and looked out the window. They had a couple of hours before heading back into town.

'Reborn…'


	11. Encounter

After getting something to eat on their way from the meeting of the future arcobalenos, Reborn and Tsuna were back on the road. They were about halfway home but there were still an hour or so left before they reached the condo. And during the trip, neither of them spoke, both not sure on what to say to each other.

Finally, Reborn broke the silence with a question he'd wanted to ask for a while.

"So, I'm taking it that you know about the arcobalenos, correct?" Reborn asked, slowing the car to a stop for a red light. He glanced over from the front to the passenger seat where Tsuna was buckled into.

The sky guardian nodded his head. "Yeah to a point. All of you seem quite intended in keeping all your secrets from everyone including me." Tsuna sighed at that. _All_ of the arcobalenos never once opened their mouth about themselves, would never speck a single thing. He knew it was true, Reborn in his present time (not the one next to him) knew everything about him while Tsuna knew absolutely _nothing_. It wasn't fair… "But there was actually someone else that I didn't see there, well, he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place though from what I can remember."

"Hm? Is that so…" Reborn turned the wheel, going right, but was stopped by another light. The red light was almost blaring at them in mockery and the cars on the other two lanes were driving at full speed. This gave him the chance to somewhat interrogate the teen. Even though he still wanted to know what had happened between him and Verde, he could tell when he wasn't going to get an answer and he didn't want to push the other either. Tsuna was already afraid of him enough as it is. "Who was missing?"

Tsuna tilted his head, glancing down to his fingers. "A man named Colonello. If I remember correctly, he's Lal Mirch's student or one of them. I wonder how he looks right now…"

Reborn had to turn back to the wheel when the light turned green, driving once more. He kept an eye on the other cars on the road since he knew that a couple of them were really stupid and he wasn't planning on getting into an accident anytime soon, not with Tsuna next to him. "Actually, Lal Mirch is part of Vongola even though she's training the new COMSUBINs that are coming in. But with her authority, it shouldn't be too hard to allow us to come in and visit. Plus, it just so happen that I'm familiar with the person that's in charge of the COMSUBIN training ground. He's probably still there." Reborn paused, glancing over to Tsuna from the corner of his eyes. "You've never been to a training site before, right? Shouldn't be too hard to make a surprise visit."

"R-Really?" Tsuna blinked, a little shocked that he was actually being able to go. He had been expecting an outright 'no'.

"It shouldn't be a problem. This might be helpful to you as well." Reborn twisted the wheel again, going around a corner. "We can go out either tomorrow or the day after. I'll first need to make a call and check. We wouldn't want to drive all the way there to the facility and find out that they aren't there."

Tsuna's face broke out into a smile, clearly happy about this event. And he would have hugged the hit man if they weren't currently in a car. "Thanks so much, Reborn."

The hit man, on the other hand, almost returned the smile for a moment. It had been so blinding to him that he had to look away so he wouldn't get influenced. Reborn just nodded and continued talking. "Also, you should bring whatever you usually wear to fight with just in case. Not everyone there are nice people, a couple of them like to bully the weak and I won't be there constantly to protect you."

Tsuna nodded, though he didn't fully get why Reborn was telling him this, but if he was taking the time to warn him, Tsuna knew he should take it to heart. For his preparation, he'd have to put his contacts on that were stored in his backpack (he can't wear them all the time) though he probably shouldn't use an x-burner on anyone. He wasn't planning on seriously hurting anyone or getting into any fights that he needed to go all out.

The sky guardian just hoped that no one would pick on him, he never really liked fighting, but he will do so if it meant protecting someone. Tsuna could only show his true self during those times and only then.

As they drove back, Tsuna continued to watch the area, his eyes keen on observing anything that passed by. He wanted to see everything he could while he had the chance since he knew he might not be able to for a long time once he returns to his time.

* * *

"So I take it that this is the place?" Tsuna whispered out loud as he viewed the area. There were multiple buildings clustered all together each with a sign at the top in Italian. He couldn't read a single one at all but he did recognize what a couple of them were just by looking at the building itself. In the distance, one of the structures had multiple windows and appeared to be a boarding area for the trainees and/or trainers. It made it more obvious when he could see people entering and leaving it through the front doors. There was a few more of the same type in that general location as well. And there was another building that looked like a cafeteria, the smell of food giving it away along with some of the trainees that were coming out with trays and whatnot.

He then took the time to examine over the people that were wandering around, all of them were older than him by about four to five years and there were a couple that were in their thirties. He suddenly felt really tiny as he looked around, he was sooo short. Tsuna cursed his genetics from within his mind.

As they drove into the training area, they parked at the main office that was near the center of the facility. Tsuna was the first to step out, checking his pockets for all his items to make sure that nothing had fallen out, and blinked his eyes to ensure that he was having no problems with his contacts. His eyes glanced around curiously, taking everything in. A couple of the students looked over to him in question, whispering among each other, but when Reborn came out, many recoiled in fright.

'So he's famous here too… Wonder what he did to get these people to back up in fear like that… No, wait, I'd rather not know.' Tsuna thought to himself, paling as he imagined whatever hell Reborn had caused here, as he moved over to the hit man's side and followed along. The building before them was plain, a little beat up and worn down probably from the weather, and as they stepped inside together, they were greeted with a burst of air that rustled their clothes and hair. The receptionist that was at the front glanced over and when she saw Reborn, she immediately stood up.

"Ah, siete Reborn, corretto? Haron mi ha detto che stavate venendo oggi. (Ah, you're Reborn, correct? Haron told me that you were coming today.)" She spoke, straightening himself out.

"Sì, sarò qui per un istante ed avrò bisogno di un passaggio dell'ospite per questo tipo. (Yes, I'll be here for a while and I'll need a visitor pass for this guy.)" Reborn motioned to Tsuna, who blinked when both pair of eyes turned to his direction. He switched languages so that Tsuna could understand. "You'll need a visitor pass to get around here freely, this is an army-based site, after all."

"Oh…" Tsuna muttered dumbly and looked over to the woman when she came closer, holding out some sort of badge. He stared at it and took it into his hands, not sure on what to do next. Was he supposed to put this on?

The woman spoke in Italian again and Tsuna just blinked in question, confused as hell. He was really regretting on not learning Italian in advance. He'll need to start once he gets back to his time (if he can) since he was getting irritated that he couldn't understand a single thing. Though in the back of his mind, he wished that when a person spoke, a little subtitle bar would show up above the person's head or at the bottom like in the movies with the translation. It was impossible and just wishful thinking on his part but it might make things a hell a lot easier for him.

Reborn answered for the woman, translating what she had said while his arms were folded against his chest. "She said to put that on and make sure it's visible. You should have realized by now that you look really out of place here because of your clothes. Everyone in the base is dressed in uniforms."

Tsuna nodded to that and clipped the badge on, pulling at it gently at the bottom to make sure it wouldn't suddenly come off at the worst moment. He knew that he had a bad habit of getting into trouble, something he'd like to avoid. He glanced up to Reborn once he was done, wondering what was going to happen next.

The hit man noticed the look and took a step forward. "Why don't you go out and explore the area? I need to talk to Haron for a while." Reborn stated, unfolding his arms and tilted his fedora downward. "This will give you a good chance to see how a real training area looks like and for god's sake, don't get yourself into trouble."

Tsuna winced at that, knowing that it was true.

Reborn sighed at the depressed look he was given and pulled his fedora further. "Still, you can only speak Japanese, that'll be a problem when talking to other people…" The hit man huffed and turned back to the receptionist, speaking in Italian for a moment. Tsuna could tell that she was giving them strange looks with all the language changing. He didn't blame her though. When the two finished talking, he watched the woman come up to him again, this time holding out a pen, and realized what she was going to do.

The receptionist leaned over and began scribbling something on the badge at the bottom. When she finished, he flipped the thing up, peering at the words but couldn't make anything out. He glanced up at Reborn, who was starting to make his way towards the back, pass the front desk while the receptionist had gone back to her seat and took a few seconds to study the hit man from behind before shaking his head. Not sure on what else to do, Tsuna slowly began backing out of the building. But before the door closed, he said a short 'see you later' to the hit man, certain that it wouldn't be heard.

Reborn stopped and glanced back, momentarily staring at the back form of Tsuna. He whispered under his breath before continuing on his way. "Be careful, Tsuna…"

Outside, the sky guardian covered his eyes from the sun for a moment, waiting for his vision to get used to the brightness. Once it got better, he tried to look around the general area to get a feeling of the place. He did notice that there were a couple of people looking at him curiously and perhaps suspiciously but when they saw the badge that was hanging on his shirt, they calmed down.

Tsuna gave a soft sigh, still unsure on where to go. He didn't even get a map of the facility (not that he would be able to read it in the first place which would make it useless either way) and decided to just wander the place until he found something interesting. But he couldn't shake off the stares he was getting as he passed by people. A couple of them even turned to each other to whisper. Tsuna, knowing that he couldn't do anything, swallowed his nervousness and moved on.

"Ehi! (Hey!)"

He ignored the yell, thinking that it was being directed towards someone else. Who would really want to speak to him anyway?

"Ehi! (Hey!)"

Where should he go? Left? Right? Up or down? He sighed at his pathetic attempt of a joke and shrugged his shoulders, somewhat bored.

That was until he got grabbed at the shoulder and spun around. Tsuna let out a weak squeak in shock and looked up at the small group of men, all older than him by four years and were much taller too. He cursed his genetics again. There were three of them in total and they were all looking at him directly. He blinked his large honey orbs in confusion and somewhat in fear. Who were these people? And what did they want with him of all people?

"Ehi, non mi senti? (Hey, can't you hear me?)" The nearest one spoke, who had light brown hair, and leaned in closer.

The second one said something next but Tsuna, as usual, didn't understand. He was only able to watch and piece together what was going on. And at the moment, they were pointing towards his badge and speaking to each other in Italian, leaving Tsuna to observe them from his spot. The three men were a little messy and dirty probably from training but were quite cheerful in the way they spoke to each other. He tilted his head when he saw a couple of bruises, ones that look quite recent meaning that they must have gotten out of whatever training sometime ago. Tsuna wouldn't be surprised if they were made by Lal Mirch.

"Can you understand me?" The one with brown hair asked, coming forward.

The sky guardian leaned his head back into place and nodded. The language was a little choppy but it was enough that he could piece together what the man was saying. He opened his mouth to speak. "Yes, I can."

The man turned to his buddies and muttered something back to them before turning to him again. "Okay, that's good. Um…Sorry for bothering you but we were wondering why you were with that man before. The one named Reborn." The person asked, leaning forward, putting his hands on his knees. The other two, a blond and the other black-haired, watched eagerly.

Tsuna rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I can't really tell you. He'd kill me if I do so and I really _really_ don't want to be shot. And…wait…how do you know him?" The brunet stared at all three questionably, that was probably one of the few questions he really wanted to know.

The person smiled, understanding. "I see. Sorry, we were just curious. As for your last question, he comes here every once in a while and scouts people though he has never taken anyone from here. And he's really powerful so no one dares go against him either. We've seen what he's done to a couple of people here. Many of them had to sent to the infirmary for their injuries. Also, he's never really come in here before with anyone so we were kinda curious if you were special or something." Tsuna shook his head frantically, he wasn't really all _that_ special. Okay, maybe he was. He is from the future, he is the next head of Vongola, and maybe a couple of other things he didn't want to list but still, he didn't think he was all that special. The man turned back to translate what was going on to his buddies, who just nodded and talked back. Tsuna looked at each and every one of them, not feeling threatened at all, and he hoped his intuition was right. The man spoke again. "If you are with him, does that mean you know how to fight?"

Tsuna blinked, not expecting that. "Y-Yeah, a little."

The man's face brightened up instantly. "Hey, that's cool. Do you mind us seeing what you can do? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. But if you're with Reborn then you should be able to do something, right?"

Tsuna nodded, though not really liking the idea, he might as well go along with it. He was certain that if he didn't, Reborn would pop out of nowhere and force him. Well maybe the baby version, he wasn't sure what the adult would do.

He shivered at the thought.

The man spoke, snapping Tsuna out of his thoughts. "Cool! There's actually a practice area near here. Right now, there aren't a lot of people out there so we should be able to use it and I think there are a couple of supervisors in that area too." Tsuna tilted his head curiously at that, making the person answer. "Ah, someone needs to watch the fight."

Tsuna made an 'oh' movement with his mouth. With that, he felt a little safer, at least there would be someone there if things got out of hand.

Before Tsuna could say or even do anything else, he was getting pulled along eagerly by one of the men. The grip was gentle, not meant to hurt but to guide, and the sky guardian just followed along. He honestly never liked fighting (he remembered a few certain people back at home that do) and probably never will but it couldn't hurt, right? Tsuna bit the bottom of his lip.

"Um…" The brunet muttered, trying to get the three men's attention. The one that spoke Japanese eyed him. "I can't fight really well though…so…um…"

The person just grinned. "That's fine. Actually, we're newbies here, joined about a couple of months ago. But since we're on beginner level, we've been fighting the same person or thing that we just wanted to try something different and new. And everyone here fights quite similar so it gets boring after a while."

"Oh…"

"But don't worry, we won't bully you for being weak like some of the others. We're actually quite weak ourselves."

Tsuna smiled, nodding. He was beginning to warm up to these people. "What are your names?"

The person paused and returned the gesture (the smile). "I'm Chris, that's Hank and Guillermo." The other two nodded their heads to their names respectfully. "And if you were wondering why I can speak Japanese, it's because there's a program here that requires you to learn different languages. I chose Japanese obviously though I don't use it often since there's not really anyone here to practice it on."

"I understand." Tsuna glanced at all three and decided to introduce himself. "Oh and I'm Tsunay-" The memory of Reborn wielding a gun at his head came into his mind and he paused, rethinking his words. "Tsuna."

"Well, nice to meet you, Tsuna."

"Likewise."

Eventually, they came up to the training site and a couple of other students that were running around while others were training with someone calling out to them and there were a couple that were just hanging out at the side. A few were fighting in the middle with a couple of the trainers that were gathered at the side, keeping an eye out to make sure that nothing ever got too far. However, the moment, Tsuna stepped out, some eyes turned towards him and he recognized one pair that were glaring at him and paled.

It was Lal Mirch.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The blue-haired woman cried out in Japanese, stomping forward. She stopped in front of the teen, who squeaked in surprise but didn't back away. He stood in front of the three trainees, who had, by then, straightened themselves out and were looking afraid.

Tsuna bowed in respect. "Hi, Lal Mirch. Um… and Reborn was the one that brought me here."

Lal growled. "That bastard. What the hell is he thinking?" A fiery aura surrounded her but for some odd reason, Tsuna didn't do anything. Reborn was much scarier than her and when he compared those two together, Reborn won in the end. Even he could tell the difference between one that would beat the hell out of him and the other that would probably torture _then_ kill him. Yeah, Lal was the _kinder_ of the two. The blue-haired woman's gaze remained settled on the teen seeing as she wasn't scaring him like the three students behind. She had to congratulate his bravery. "Well, why are you here anyway?" Lal then turned to the three students, switching into Italian, obviously scolding them by the tone she was using. Tsuna observed as she yelled at them, watching all three flinch.

The one with black hair, Guillermo, replied back to her in fear.

Chris leaned to the side, seeing Tsuna's confused look. He nudged him gently to catch his attention. "If you like to know what's happening, Lal is questioning us as to why we're here. We're also trying to get her approval and allow us to fight." Tsuna nodded, watching the exchange between the two groups.

Finally, the woman sighed and folded her arms in frustration. She spoke to the group and by the looks of their faces, Tsuna knew that they had gotten her approval. Her sharp eyes snapped to him, who could only stare back, and spoke in Japanese. "I'll step in if things get too far. I doubt Reborn would let me live if anything were to happen to you and I'd rather not go against him. So don't do anything stupid!"

"Thanks." Tsuna smiled weakly in gratitude, following the others out into the area. As he did so, he noticed that his little group was getting more attention from those around. Some had actually stopped training to see what was going on. He shivered again at all the stares he was getting, not liking the feeling of being examined from the distance. His honey orbs turned back to Lal when she started to speak again. It was in Italian though.

The three suddenly saluted with Chris being the first one to break away and shift towards him. "Okay, we need to head to area number three." He pointed towards the general location where there was a large white marker written on the bottom.

Tsuna nodded and followed the three out to the field while reaching into his pockets to take out his white mittens that had the number twenty-seven sown onto it. Instantly, he recognized some of the strange looks from the others in the area. Mittens… Of course, anyone would look at him weirdly. But inside, he knew what they really were.

Tsuna jogged to the other side of the field where he had been directed and looked back at Chris. From his location, he watched as the other two walked to the side. 'Guess I'm fighting Chris…'

But before Lal could announce the match to begin, a large looking person came up to the long-haired brunet and suddenly shoved him aside. Tsuna gasped and rose up his mitten-covered hands to cover his mouth.

'What's going on…?' He watched as the two argue before the two friends, Hank and Guillermo, came over to back him up. The bigger person just laughed in amusement and shoved them aside with ease. That was until the man pushed Hank to the ground cruelly and kicked him at the side. Tsuna flinched when he heard a pained groan fall from the lips and glanced at Lal, who was just standing there with her arms folded, observing the four. It was obvious that she wasn't going to step in.

The bigger man, not officially dubbed bully by Tsuna, yelled and laughed a few more times before shoving Chris down next and kicking him hard at the chest.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed at that.

With his mind concentrating solely on the group before him, he didn't even notice a dark shadow appearing beside Lal, the fedora giving him away to any normal eye.

Feeling a bubbling feeling rising in his chest, Tsuna reached into his back pocket to get his case, snapping the lid open, and took a pill out. He held it in the palm of his hand as he placed the case back and stared at it. If there was one thing he hated, he didn't like others being picked on. He didn't mind himself as much but to others, he wouldn't allow it to happen. The resolution to fight, to protect, made him grind his teeth together as he ate the pill.

The bully laughed a little bit longer, about to make another kick when something orange flashed. Tsuna appeared next to him, his orange flames burning brightly on his forehead and hands, and punched the person in the face. The twenty-something year old went flying back five feet at the force and slammed into a gate, knocking the entire thing down until a certain distance. A large puff of smoke covered the area but Tsuna stood still, his body calm though his orange eyes were burning in rage. A frown was on his lips, glaring at the person he had knocked down.

Meanwhile, jaws in the area were dropping down in shock.

"Reborn…" Lal Mirch whispered, knowing that the hit man was beside her. "Just who _is_ he?"

The hit man stared, not sure how to explain the amazing show of power. Was this really the weak person from before? He smirked at the sight. 'So this will be my future student…and _boss_. Not bad, Vongola Decimo.' He glanced at the woman. "Can't say, you know that."

"Then how powerful is he?"

Reborn paused at that. "Even I don't know that." His eyes caught sight of the bully's friends getting up in anger, wanting to avenge their fallen friend. "But we're about to get a good show of it."

He grinned and licked his lips at the sight. This was definitely going to be interesting.


	12. First

Tsuna kept his eyes on the new group of enemies and remained calm and still. He wasn't going to lose, he had to help. He never could stand the sight of others getting hurt right in front of him. Sure, he barely knew Chris and his buddies but they had been kind to him so far. That was enough reason for him.

His orange eyes watched each and every movement, hearing Italian being shouted at him from all three men. Tsuna didn't pay any attention to the words and ignored everything. It wasn't as if he understood the language in the first place. The sky guardian kept his feet planted to the ground and though it would be easier to fly in the air and around them, his intuition told him that that wouldn't be a good idea. He would get too much attention if he did that. So instead, he ran around, eyes sharp and focused and used the flames on his gloves to help his speed. He dodged to the left when a punch came and instantly countered attacked by placing a well aimed elbow into the man's stomach. Sending the person flying back, the bully landed a couple feet away and rolled around in the dirt. Immediately, Tsuna went back onto the defense, watching every movement around him.

It was obvious they were cursing him out, yelling insults from the tone of voice, but it did nothing to his will to protect. Chris and the others watched with interest from the side, all of them slowly getting up to their feet.

Using quick footwork and speed from his gloves, he knocked everyone out within a blink of an eye. To many of those that were not able to see his movement, he looked like he had disappeared and reappeared right behind the ground. And right as he took a deep breath, the bullies collapsed to the ground, grunting and unconscious.

Tsuna huffed and relaxed though the dying will flame was still burning brightly on his forehead. His orange eyes looked over to the unconscious group one last time before making his way towards Chris and his friends.

The brunet stared at them, waiting for their reaction and spoke carefully. "Are you all okay?"

The group nodded back, well, Chris did since he was the only one that understood him. The long-haired student took a step forward with a wide grin, shaking off his shock with bewilderment before rushing forward. "Tsuna, that was really amazing! You really know how to kick butt!" With that, he laughed. "And what were you talking about earlier? Can't fight well? Seriously? Did you see what you just did? You wiped the floor with them!"

The sky guardian blushed even though he was still his Hyper Dying Will Mode. A small smile appeared on his lips and he tilted his head to the side. A couple of bangs fell down, making him look so adorable. The three men suddenly found themselves blushing. "Thanks, you three."

Lal deadpanned. "Reborn, your charge is seducing the students…"

The hit man remained quiet, grumbling in silence. He was tempted to stomp out there and drag the teen to his side but held that action in. He knew that that would cause suspicious glances his way and he didn't want any of that at this moment.

Tsuna remained smiling softly, listening to Chris speak, until he heard some footsteps coming his way. His lips fell and rotated around to see a tall man walking towards him. His eyes widened when he recognized the person. He knew that blond hair and blue eyes anywhere.

'Colonello…'

The tall blond instantly grinned and waved his hand, calling out to them in Italian. On his shoulder was some sort of practice weapon, by the looks of it, and his clothes were a little messy with some patches of dirt and grass here and there. Tsuna noticed that some sweat was dripping down the side of his face and he looked somewhat exhausted. The flame on his forehead and hands died down until it disappeared, his Vongola gloves going back to the normal white mittens. Tsuna blinked, letting his eyes shift in color, before placing everything into his back pocket and watched the other come closer.

However, he didn't have to do anything. Lal beat him by stepping forward first to snap at her student. Tsuna could see a vein appearing from the side of her face and he took a step back, shifting closer to the three men behind him. "Colonello! Che cosa sono voi che fate qui? Siete supposto essere fuori nei campi di formazione ora! Mi non dica che state saltando ancora! (Colonello! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be out in the training fields right now! Don't tell me you're skipping again!)"

The blond laughed and rubbed the back of his head, right below his usual camouflage bandana. "Bene, quando ho sentito che un certo capretto stava battendo in su alcuni anziani, ho dovuto studiare appena. Non è come se qualche cosa di interessante accade molto spesso comunque qui, kora. (Well, when I heard that some kid was beating up some seniors, I just had to investigate. It's not as if something interesting happens here very often anyway, kora.)" He shrugged his shoulders as if he had done nothing wrong and leaned to the side. Glancing at Tsuna for a moment, he gave a short wave while the teen just blinked in confusion and returned the gesture back hesitatingly.

"Non importate, idiota! Non siete supposto saltare! (Doesn't matter, you idiot! You're not supposed to skip!)"

Tsuna watched the exchange between the two and chuckled to himself, the quarrels looked exactly the same as they did in the present. They would always bicker between each other and it was probably the one thing that would never change. But as he looked Colonello over, he had to admit that the blond was really handsome. He blushed at his thoughts and then turned to Reborn when he noticed the dark clothes from the corner of his eyes. His large honey orbs meet the black ones and his face turned a few shades darker when he realized that Reborn too was extremely good-looking. Tsuna almost face palmed himself in the face at his thoughts. Why was he thinking like that? He shook his head and wandered closer to the hit man, keeping a smile on.

"Hey, Reborn…" Tsuna whispered as his honey-colored eyes peered up at the taller man. As he stared, he suddenly noticed how the fedora would create a shadow that would cover the eyes, how the brunet hadn't noticed before was beyond him. "How long have you been here?"

"Arrived right before the fight." The to-be-sun arcobaleno huffed, folding his arms, and leaned to the side. "That was quite impressive…but you were holding back."

Tsuna flushed at the compliment, it was probably one of the firsts that didn't end with some kind of insult. Glancing between Colonello and Reborn, he couldn't tell who was better looking. And he didn't want to choose either.

'Augh! I need to stop thinking about this!' Tsuna mentally screamed in his head. 'It's because of the sun, that's it, the sun…' He reached up, putting his hands together, fiddling with his fingers in embarrassment. Meanwhile, the brunet didn't realize that when he was talking about the sun he had forgotten that Reborn was a sun element himself. As Tsuna continued his mental breakdown, he could still hear Lal scolding the blond in the background (there were also the sounds of slaps too [he flinched at those]) and decided to answer Reborn since the older man was still staring at him. "W-Well, I didn't want to seriously hurt them…"

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that. "And knocking them hard enough to send them flying isn't?"

Tsuna gave a guilty look at that.

The hit man sighed, bending over a bit to whisper. He didn't want anyone to hear him. "Its fine, you gave them what they deserved. I think everyone even Lal was amazed at what you could do." For a moment, he was actually tempted to pat the teen on the head but held that back. It wouldn't look good if he did so especially out in the open too.

The sky guardian blinked, gazing at Reborn in awe. Was he really that good? He had never thought much on that… He always presumed that he was one of the weakest of the group (aside Lambo). But hearing that from Reborn just made him…happy…

"Ehi! (Hey!)"

Tsuna twisted around, glancing at the speaker, and then turned red. He let out a little yelp at the sudden closeness with the to-be-rain arcobaleno. Colonello, on the other hand, was grinning brightly and leaned in, close enough that Tsuna could feel the other almost touching him though he did notice that there were some red marks on the man's face. Lal, for the time being, was right behind, still growling angrily and immediately turned her attention to the other three students, who flinched at her gaze. "Voi tre! Ottenga indietro alle vostre stazioni!(You three! Get back to your stations)!"

There were a couple of cries from the trio and Tsuna watched them scramble away in confusion, afraid of the woman but before they could fully leave, Chris slowed his steps and turned around. He waved at the teen and spoke in Japanese. "It was nice meeting you, Tsuna!"

Tsuna just smiled and waved back, watching the group disappear before turning his attention back to the blond. He looked over the taller man then spoke. "H-Hello…"

Not noticing the language difference, Colonello responded. "Sono Colonello. Voi? (I'm Colonello. You?)" The man held out a hand which Tsuna stared at for a moment then took it after figuring out what Colonello had meant with the gesture. He shook the hand hesitatingly before pulling back and blinked in question, wondering what the other had said, while Colonello remained still, waiting for an answer. Tsuna just stared back, not sure on what to say, and looked around desperately for help.

Lal came to his rescue and slapped Colonello across the head from behind. "Idiota! Legga il distintivo. So che avete preso giapponese e l'inglese come vostro corso di lingue. (Idiot! Read the badge. I know you took Japanese and English as your language course.)"

The blond twitched, rubbing the back of his head, and turned to Tsuna once more. He switched languages. "Let me try this again, kora. I'm Colonello, you?"

"Tsuna…" The sky guardian responded with a smile that almost had flowers sprouting out from behind him (Reborn stared in disbelief from the side and was tempted to poke one of those said flowers). "Nice to meet you, Colonello."

Colonello just blinked, staring at the brunet with a light tint on his face from the smile, and coughed. He reached over and patted the other on the head. Tsuna squeaked in response, not expecting that, and blushed at the feeling. "You shouldn't smile like that at people, kora." He laughed soon after.

Tsuna stared, what had Colonello meant by that? Still his curiosity was perked by other things too. He had never known much about the arcobalenos' past since they had always kept quiet about almost everything except certain parts (even Reborn) and he knew better than anyone that this was the best time for answers that he so desperately wanted. "Oh, okay… So, um, how long have you been training here, Colonello?"

"Hmm… For about two years, I believe. I'm one of Lal's students and not to brag but I'm one of the best ones here, kora." Colonello continued on, ignoring the outcry from the female beside him, and dodged a near slap that would surely be agonizing. Tsuna watched from the side, remembering Lal's slaps from long ago, and damn did they hurt like hell. The blond got a little closer in the process while avoiding his trainer. "What about you? Who do you train under, kora?"

Tsuna tilted his head and then paled. "I can't really tell you, it's supposed to be a secret. That and I'll get in trouble."

"Oh? Well then, how about your age, kora?"

"I'm fifteen…"

Colonello paused, looking the teen over again in disbelief and shock. "Are you serious? Is he serious, kora?" He turned to the others, hoping that it was a lie. Reborn and Lal chuckled a little at that but didn't answer. Though when Tsuna nodded his head, the blond could only stare. "Wow… You're short. I thought you were twelve or something, kora."

Tsuna made a sound from the back of his throat and scowled, however, it looked more like a pout. When he realized that it wasn't working, he wanted to cry in misery. "It's not fair…"

Wincing at the sight, Colonello rubbed the back of his head. "But hey, at least you make that up in strength. I mean, you were able to throw around a couple of seniors. That's extraordinary, kora."

With that compliment, Tsuna blushed then smiled, getting himself pulled into the praise. "I-I didn't really do anything."

Colonello huffed and placed his hands on his sides. "Hey, don't down yourself like that. You're really impressive, kora. I bet you could get a really high position with those abilities and power and with that personality of yours, you'll gain a lot of attention too. Even I can tell that you're a trustworthy person, you're the type that protects people. I would gladly follow you if become some kind of boss, kora!" He laughed, grinning brightly as always, and leaned forward with his hands on his hips.

'How ironic! I am going to become a boss!' Tsuna yelled in his mind but nodded his head not to give anything away. He took a step back since Colonello had gotten far too close for his liking.

Meanwhile, behind, Lal and Reborn were talking to each other. They spoke in Japanese so that there was a less likely chance of people listening in. The female spoke first in whispers. "You know, Reborn, he'll be a good addition to Vongola. Get him to join. He could probably even make it to a guardian or something. And those were sky flames he was using too."

Reborn tilted his fedora to cover his expression but he was smirking underneath. It was funny to him since Tsuna is to become the leader of Vongola, the next boss, his boss… Reborn stopped himself before his thoughts got too far. He couldn't afford himself to become like this all of a sudden. Oh, how he wanted to hit himself to drive these thoughts away…

Back with Colonello and Tsuna, they continued talking, mostly about random subjects, anything that came to mind though Tsuna did try to sneak some personal ones in there somewhere. This time, the blond asked. "So how long are you here for, kora?"

"Oh, I'm just visiting with Reborn."

"Reborn?" Colonello questioned to himself, glancing up at the said hit man who was still talking to Lal. He stared at him for a few moments before turning back to Tsuna. "How do you know Reborn anyway, kora? I mean the guy rarely allows anyone to get near him from what I've heard and seen."

"Ah, well…" Tsuna muttered under his breath, not really sure on what to say. "I probably shouldn't say anything. I might get in trouble."

The blond nodded understandingly and shrugged his shoulders.

A set of footsteps snapped the two away from each other. Lal was coming closer, her arms folded, and was scowling at her student. "Come on, you need to get back to training. Your supervisor is going to be pissed."

"Aw, come on, Lal. It's not as if they're going to do something new anytime soon, kora." Colonello leaned to the side and placed an arm around the brunet's shoulder. Tsuna blinked in confusion as he was pulled in closer towards the blond. "Plus, I'm interested in this one. He's really cute, kora."

Instantaneously, Tsuna's face flushed bright red. "C-C-Cute?"

"Yeah, kora!" Laughing at the expression he was getting, Colonello yanked Tsuna closer. A squeak escaped the teen's lips as he crashed into the other's chest, his fingers gripping the white shirt in front. The brunet's face darkened further in color, able to hear Colonello's heart beat, and could smell the earth-like scent on the older man. A rough hand patted him on the head. "You're so adorable!"

Then a click could be heard from the side.

The two paused, freezing into place, and glanced over at the sound. Reborn stood at his spot with Leon in gun mode in his hand, aiming directly at Colonello's face. A murderous aura surrounded him and he looked ready to kill.

'What the?' Tsuna tilted his head at his future tutor, not really sure on why Reborn was threatening them. He broke away from Colonello for a moment and bravely went closer. He reached forward and tugged the hit man's sleeve, peering up cutely with a concerned expression. His lips were slightly parted and his eyebrows were scrunched together. Some of those that were watching went 'awe' at the face even Colonello. Reborn stared down at the teen, fighting an unwinnable mental battle within, and sighed in defeat. He was having a hard time resisting the other whenever Tsuna became like this, damn the boy's ability. "R-Reborn?"

Suddenly, there was a smirk on Colonello's lips and he reached forward, grabbing Tsuna around the waist. A squeak came from the teen in response, glancing up at the blond in shock and question. Reborn's eyes, on the other hand, narrowed beneath his fedora and if looks could kill, Colonello would be a dead man right now.

Watching at the side, Lal wondered, with a finger on her lips, on how this would turn out. She almost felt like laughing in amusement.

Tsuna, alternatively, felt incredibly nervous, he didn't like how both men were looking at him. Not at all. And it was beyond scary. For once, he's rather have them beating him up instead. Here, he felt like some cornered mouse with two hungry cats eyeing him as food, Tsuna swallowed in fright.

The two men stared at him a little longer before turning to each other at the same time. Colonello grinned and leaned over, cupping Tsuna's chin with a free hand. The honey-colored eyes widened as they watched Colonello move closer to his face, his breath hitching as he felt a pair soft lips brush along his own. A snarl came from the side but Tsuna didn't hear it, his eyes were on the blue orbs before him. As the lips pressed together for a kiss, Tsuna realized that this was his first one, his first kiss.

Immediately, he felt his cheeks burning up and squawked in response but he couldn't move to get away. His feet remained frozen to the spot. Colonello chuckled, the sound making his body vibrated and Tsuna could feel it through his hands since he was leaning against the other. Rough fingers slid up from his arms to his shoulders.

But the kiss didn't last long before Reborn fired.

Instantly, the blond jumped to the side to dodge the attack while Tsuna stayed put, unable to comprehend what had just happened. He stared at his fingers and finally reached up to touch his lips that were still burning.

He didn't remain in his world for very long before an arm grabbed him from the side and yanked his over. His eyes glanced up to see Reborn and stared. The normally calm and calculating black eyes were filled with anger and rage. Tsuna blinked at the sight, his mind trying to process the man before him. 'Is Reborn angry…? Because I got kissed? Why…?' Tsuna's eyes didn't drift away but it did for a second to peer at Colonello.

The blond was smiling in glee, looking triumphant and proud of himself for what he had done. Reborn, on the other hand, looked absolutely pissed. Leon was glittering in the sun light and his trigger finger was slowly shifting backwards, about to fire once more with deadly accuracy. Jumping in front, Tsuna hoped he could stop the two of them before something horrible happened.

"R-Reborn, don't shoot him!" Tsuna cried, waving his arms wildly in an effect to make the hit man pause. His eyes were large and teary, trying to help calm the other, though he didn't know how much of an effect he could have at the same time.

Reborn blinked at the spectacle in front of him, pausing for a moment, and stared. He mentally fought with himself again before sighing, unable to find himself to disobey, and pulled Leon up for a moment. "Tsuna, you really need to stop interfering with me."

Of course, Colonello wasn't going to remain quiet throughout this entire process. He just had to add oil to the flame. "Oh, come on, Reborn. Don't tell me that you've fallen that far to listen to a cute little kid."

Tsuna flushed at that with his eyes narrowing. For some odd reason, he, right now, felt pissed that Colonello was insulting Reborn. He clenched his hands together. It didn't make any sense to him. Why would he be angry? Tsuna turned his eyes towards the blond in question and reached into his back pocket for his items. If he couldn't make sense of things as he was now then maybe being in Hyper Dying Will Mood would help. Everyone watched as Tsuna ate the pill and put the now Vongola gloves on, wondering what he was going to do next. Colonello, for once, looked slightly nervous as the orange eyes stared at him.

Tsuna shook his head and closed his eyes, no, it still didn't make any sense to him. But that rage didn't die down. He rose up his fists that were burning brightly, knowing what he had to do. Colonello twitched and took a step back as the sky flames flared a bit. And before he knew it, Tsuna had disappeared. His bright blue eyes widened in surprise and then something orange flashed in his vision but not for long as pain came next.

Colonello's eyes were closed and he fell to the ground, rolling across the dirt. He stopped a few moments later, coughing, and winced as he felt his jaw aching agonizingly. Gazing up with his vision splitting as he tried to get his position together, in his previous spot stood Tsuna, staring directly at him with eyes narrowed. Slowly, the flames died down until nothing.

Colonello blinked and was about to try getting up when something else collided with him on his back. He was met with the ground once more and grumbled, cursing to himself in Italian. Clenching his fingers, he managed to twist his head around to see who had their foot on his back and paled slightly at the sight.

Lal glared with flames appearing behind her back. There was an evil glint in her eyes and Colonello thought for a moment that her blue hair was actually flying upward demonically. "Colonello… You bastard…"

Tsuna watched safely from the side, paling when he heard a scream, and looked away. Lal could get scary when she wanted to (he knew first hand). Reborn, in contrast, observed the situation with an amused smirk and stepped forward to take Tsuna's hand. The brunet glanced up in question. "Reborn?"

"We're going." The hit man commanded, somewhat dragging Tsuna behind him, and towards the front of the main office. The teen managed to keep up, his face in confusion and glanced back for a second. No one seemed to notice their disappearance probably because of Colonello and Lal's distraction and allowed them time to slip out. Tsuna brought his gaze back at the older man, studying the back, before smiling softly and tightening his fingers on the hold.

Reborn momentarily glanced back curiously as his eyes rested on the hands. He blinked and stared at the smile that was on Tsuna's lips before shaking his head, his other hand digging through his pockets for his keys. Anyone that was outside didn't pay any attention to them, more interested on what was going on in the training area. It wasn't hard for the two to get into the car and drive off unnoticed.

The ride back home (Tsuna wasn't sure when he started calling Reborn's place home but he didn't mind as much) was mostly silent though the teen could feel some irritation admitting from the other.

"Um… Reborn?" Tsuna asked, breaking the silence, and looked up curiously at the hit man, wondering what was going to happen next.

"Hm?"

"Are you mad at what I did? You know, to Colonello?"

Reborn glanced away from the road for a second and then shook his head. "No, I'm not."

Tsuna tilted his head and leaned against the seat, blinking his eyes. "Then you're angry at Colonello then."

The hit man snapped his head over but kept his hands firmly on the wheel, driving down the highway calmly. Tsuna flinched at the stare, not liking how the eyes were looking at him. He relaxed slightly when they turned away to stare back at the road.

When Reborn didn't answer, Tsuna could fill in the blanks. 'Maybe this is what started their dislike for each other…'


	13. Illuminate

The next day was a little different after their little incident with Colonello.

Neither of them really wanted to go anywhere and luckily for them, it wasn't as if they could.

At the moment, it was raining outside and it was the type that would last all day, constantly covering the land in water. The sun was gone and the sky was a dark gray with a couple of flashes of lightning brightening it for a second or two. As Tsuna peered out the window, he noticed that there were very little amount of people leaving their homes, many holing themselves up to keep dry. A couple of brave ones did go out but with protection like umbrellas, though a few either got blown away or broke from the strong winds that were occurring outside. Tsuna could just hear the gusts blowing over the sounds of rain every few minutes and when there was thunder, loud enough to rattle the room, he could hear the faint sounds of car alarms going off in the distance.

Not too long ago, Reborn had taken the time to translate the news for him, saying that there was a strong storm hitting their area, a small one that wouldn't last long, but it was enough to get people panicking a bit. Tsuna backed away from the window, leaving the curtains open so he could watch the rain-filled sky for a few moments longer before settling into the couch and turned back to the TV. It went on with the news, showing videos of what was happening outside like down by the ocean and other places. It didn't really interest him, more like bored him.

His eyes glanced around the room momentarily, able to hear the constant sound of the rain that was somewhat comforting. Tsuna always loved the rain, it was something he never minded even when he had to run to school in it because he forgot his umbrella. The sound it created was peaceful even during the worst of it. After a few moments, his eyes slowly rested on Reborn, who was on the other side of the room, behind him and the couch, settled into a desk and hunched over. Tsuna blinked his eyes and then tilted his head, examining over the man from his spot. A small lamp light was on at the desk Reborn was settled into and there was a soft sound of a page being flipped over. It was obvious that the hit man was reading something.

"Hey, Reborn…" Tsuna called out, looking over the top of the couch to peer at Reborn. The older man glanced up curiously, his fingers pausing on the page of his book that he was about to turn, and gave a quick motion with his fingers to continue. The brunet hesitated for a moment before speaking once more. "Reborn, could you…tell me about yourself?"

The man stared for a few seconds before raising an eyebrow. "What?"

The sky guardian blushed and then began to mess with his fingers. "W-Well, I was just wondering… I just want to know more about you. Like your likes and dislikes and anything else that comes to mind." Slowly, he began to shrink down into the couch when he saw Reborn's gaze still on him. Tsuna was starting to think that maybe this was a bad idea. "Y-You know what? N-Never mind. Forget I asked." He turned back to the TV, holding the remote in his hands tightly, using it as a concentration tool since he needed to turn his focus onto something else.

A sigh from behind caught his attention and then a chair getting pushed back. Tsuna blinked questionably and was about to turn around when Reborn appeared into his vision. The hit man moved around the couch, passing Tsuna, before flopping down next to the teen, folding his legs by habit. Reborn glanced over, his arms crossed comfortably across his chest, and observed the other for a few seconds before speaking. "I guess it couldn't hurt. What would you like to know?"

The brunet blinked, remaining quiet, not sure if he had heard right. Reborn was _willingly_ going to tell him information? Not even the Reborn in the present said a thing. Tsuna had to make sure. "R-Really?"

"Yeah."

Tsuna pressed the power button to turn off the TV, finding this more interesting than whatever was happening. His eyes were large and curious and opened his mouth to start with an easy question. "Well… Um… What's your favorite animal?"

"Are you serious?" Reborn raised an eyebrow at Tsuna's question. "You know, one would think that you would be asking about my personal life like my past."

"Well…" Tsuna trailed off. "As much as I'd like to pry, I know that there are some things that even you'd like to be kept secret, right?"

The hit man chuckled at that and leaned against the couch. "That's right but you can ask anything. I'll let you know when you've gone too far. Oh and to answer your question, I like cats."

"Cats?" Tsuna tilted his head to the side. "You know, it kinda fits you."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well cats are really smart and sneaky. They're also quiet and really graceful too."

"And you think I'm all that? Graceful too?" Reborn chuckled, tilting his body to the side, his lips curved upward as a grin. He looked absolutely predatory. Tsuna blushed and then nodded his head, his eyes staring down at his legs and hands. He felt like shrinking away again.

"W-Well aren't you? I mean, you're really powerful…" The brunet began stuttering the rest of his words to the point that not even Reborn could understand them. The hit man sighed and leaned further, wrapping an arm around Tsuna's shoulders, pulling the teen in. Tsuna crashed against the taller man, his head resting on the shoulder, and blushed deeply. "R-Reborn?"

The hit man just chuckled again, this time darkly. "Are there any more questions?"

Tsuna bit the bottom of his lip and then nodded his head. "Are you…afraid of anything?"

This seemed to catch Reborn off slightly since he wasn't expecting that question so soon though he should have known better. It was a question most people would generally ask. "Afraid of?"

"Yeah. I mean I know that everyone is afraid of something and you've always made fun of me since I would freak out at every single thing. So I was just wondering if there was anything that made you feel uneasy." Tsuna watched earnestly, his eyes observing the older man before him.

The hit man sighed and brought up a hand to rub the back of his head and then proceeded to take off his fedora, placing it on the table before them. He unfolded his legs and inclined further to the side before flopping down into Tsuna's lap. A high-pitched squeak came from the teen in surprise, a red tint erupting on his face, and stared down in curiosity. Reborn, meanwhile, was on his back, one leg propped up on the arm of the couch, while his head rested on Tsuna's lap, peering up at Tsuna's face. "Well, I guess I could tell you that. But do realize that if you ever tell anyone what I've said, I'll kill you."

Tsuna just nodded his head, knowing that Reborn's threats had to be taken to heart or else… He shivered at just thinking of what Reborn might actually do to him.

The hit man sighed, feeling slightly nervous. He had never told anyone this before not even Nono and that's saying something. But for some odd reason, he felt compelled to tell Tsuna, as if it was the right thing to do, and he usually knew that his instincts were right and he hoped that he was doing the correct thing by saying this. "Listen, there are two things I'm really afraid of. The first one is…failure."

"What? Failure?" The brunet looked confused at that, his hands at his side, not sure on where to put them.

"Yeah…" Reborn paused. "Listen ever since I was young, I've been trained that failure means death, either mine or someone else's. But I'm not afraid of dying since it's something I know that will happen eventually, what I'm afraid of is that I've failed to do something and that in turn gets someone else…well you get the point."

Tsuna nodded, understanding. He didn't know much about the mafia and hit man type of life but he could tell that it was a dangerous lifestyle. One mistake could bring death to you or to someone else. His fingers reached up and fisted Reborn's shirt, the jacket lying neatly on a chair at the desk.

Reborn looked a little surprised at that but didn't say anything. "And the second one is…bats."

Tsuna paled at that, he didn't like those creatures either. "B-Bats?"

"Yeah though it's not as bad as it was when I was younger. I can now go through anything and hold off my fear until I'm at a safe place." Reborn huffed, not bothered with the hands that were resting on top of him, actually he kinda liked it.

"So um…How _did_ you get that fear?"

"I was about seven…" Tsuna tried to image Reborn as a seven year old but anything that came into his mind seemed all wrong. He knew what the older man looked as a one-year old and now as an adult but he couldn't get the pieces between. The hit man noticed the expression, tempted to laugh at it, but decided to keep going with his story. "I had wandered into a cave as directed for a mission during the night. I was supposed to go as far as possible inside but I hit something with my foot during trip halfway since it was so dark and used my flashlight to shine on it, however, there happened to be a small puddle of water near the spot. At that time, I didn't realize that there were bats above me and when the light hit them from the reflection of the water surface, they went wild."

"Wow, that sounds…traumatizing…" Tsuna wasn't exactly sure on how to word it and made a face in trying to do so. The hit man just shook his head and reached up to give a light pinch on the sky guardian's right cheek, who squeaked in pain.

He continued. "I was for a while but I slowly healed from that fear. After all, I couldn't let something like that get in my way of my missions." Reborn sighed and reached up with his other hand and made another soft pinch at the fleshy cheek, this time at the opposite side. Tsuna wailed slightly at having both his cheeks pulled at. The hit man ignored that and instead gave a glare, warning the teen again. "Now you better not tell anyone about what I said today, got that!"

"Of course, I won't!" Tsuna puffed out his red cheeks (Reborn had let go by then), looking slightly offended that Reborn couldn't trust him. "I won't tell anyone, I'm better than that and you know it."

With that, the hit man made a half smile, almost unnoticed to the eye. "Alright then. Well, I guess that answers that question, what else do you want to ask?"

"Um…" Tsuna muttered to himself, trying to think.

"If you don't hurry, I'll get out of the answering mood."

"W-What's your most hated food?"

"Brussel sprouts."

"What do you do in your spare time?"

The hit man raised an eyebrow at that. "Well I don't really get a lot of spare time. I'm usually working most of the time."

"Oh…Um… What else is there to ask?" Tsuna actually had billions of questions running through his head but he knew there were only a few he would dare to ask. But what should he ask? He stared down into the black eyes with a pout on his lips. Reborn wasn't making this easier either. He wanted to know so much but knew that no matter how much he asked Reborn, there would still be more questions and perhaps even more of them than before. He glanced out the window for a moment when he saw a flash of lightning. The rain pounded against the window noisily, thin streaks of collected water running down the smooth part of the glass. He didn't know how long he was staring at the rain but by the time he looked back, Reborn had already closed his eyes.

Tsuna blinked at the expression (pleasant and calm) he was getting and leaned over. He could hear the soft breathing from the lips and smiled. 'Guess he's tired.' He went back to looking at the rain. 'Even I feel a little sleepy from this weather.' The brunet's fingers carefully reached over into Reborn's hair, curious as to how it felt like. He never really got this type of chance before and he was going to take advantage of it now. Gradually, his fingers ran through the spiky hair and smiled slightly when he saw the hit man twitch at his touch.

He had to admit Reborn's hair was one of the softest things he had ever touched, though he was often told that his own hair was the best. He mentally sighed at the thought.

Tsuna stared at his future tutor and leaned back, trying to get himself comfortable with the couch. If he knew one thing, he was _never_ going to try and wake Reborn up. He knew for a fact that that was a nightmare he'd rather not dread. Stopping his movement, he closed his eyes, letting the rain lull him to sleep. Before he realized it, he had fallen into a peaceful slumber with his head leaning against the back of the couch.

Reborn, the moment Tsuna fell asleep, snapped his eyes open. His dark black orbs glanced up at the teen and smiled at the innocent sight before him but he didn't move an inch. Slowly, his right hand reached up, his fingers brushing lightly across the face. Tsuna unconsciously sighed at that, smacking his lips, but was still fast asleep. Reborn chuckled at the reaction and let his fingertips slid across the face until he reached the fallen bangs and carefully pushed them back, tucking them behind the ears. This gave him a full view of the face and laid his hand to his side before relaxing.

He stared at the calm expression for a while longer before closing his eyes once more, drifting off back to sleep. He turned his head slightly to the side so he could face the teen's neckline and had a faint smile on his lips before it disappeared. Leon was on the counter, watching them before curling up himself.

The sounds of rain filled the room, a small flash of lightning appeared here and there but the two continued to sleep. Their soft breaths of air were covered up by the weather and everything was quiet within.

Neither of them moved for a good long time, far too comfortable to do so.


	14. Admit

Ding…Dong…

Tsuna lifted his head up immediately when he heard a sound ringing throughout the room, echoing inside the entire condo. Instantly, he blinked in confusion, standing up from the sofa where he had been watching TV. And as usual, all the channels were useless. At the moment, it was currently on some discovery news that continued to go on behind him; he thinks it's talking about fishes or something.

Quickly moving to the door, he was about to unlock it when he suddenly remembered about his current living situation. Tsuna had a hand over the doorknob, frozen, until he snapped out of it and got onto his tippy toes to peek through the hole to see the other side. He was, after all, living with a hit man and it was obvious to anyone that it was a dangerous lifestyle and the brunet definitely didn't want to get caught up in that. As he gazed through the hole, his eyes could make out a woman on the other side, a blond with long wavy hair. Her clothes were low cut, revealing her cleavage, and there was noticeably far too much makeup on. It was like it had been painted and it was quite hideous in his opinion. But why was she here in the first place?

"Reborn? Cara, sei in casa? (Reborn? Darling, are you home?)" The woman called out in a singsong type of voice and had a seductive smile on her rosy lips. She looked over herself, straightening her clothes repeatedly, and made sure that her chest would pop out.

Tsuna blinked, backing away, and felt himself wanting to throw up at the sight. Should he open the door or should he not? He was half tempted to actually walk away from this whole mess and say it never happened.

"Who is it?" A deep voice called out from behind, startling the poor teen, who had been so deep in thought that he let out a cry in shock in response.

Spinning around, the sky guardian faced the speaker with his heart caught at his throat and swallowed thickly. He blushed bright red and stepped to the side to let Reborn go through while motioning to the door. "There's someone here. I think…it's for you."

The woman called out again with a tempting voice and giggled right afterwards. "Reborn? Sono io, Florena, sei a casa? (Reborn? It's me, Florena, are you home?)"

"Ahh…" The hit man instantly opened the door and the moment there was enough room to squeeze a body through, the woman came running in, wrapping her arms around Reborn's waist. She leaned up and fluttered her long eyelashes seductively, purposefully jiggling her boobs.

Tsuna quietly squeaked at the scene and rotated around, slowly slipping away from the two. He could feel a tight squeeze from within his chest but didn't pay much attention to it at the moment. But he still felt horrible and as he heard some giggling from the background, it only got worse. He felt as if something was breaking and Tsuna knew deep inside that he knew exactly what was falling apart.

Not wanting to remain there any longer, he tried to get away from the scene by disappearing into the kitchen where he knew was probably the safest location in the condo but he didn't get there. The woman had noticed him by then.

"Eh? Chi è il bambino, Reborn? (Eh? Who's the kid, Reborn?)" She asked the hit man, her blue eyes narrowing at the little figure.

"Appena un certo capretto che devo guardare sopra fino a che non vada indietro a casa. (Just some kid I have to watch over until he goes back home.)"

Tsuna blinked his eyes, staring at the two, not sure on what to do.

Reborn turned to him for a moment and switched the language back to Japanese. "Tsuna, could you stay put somewhere for a while so I can…entertain her…" He smiled mischievously, one that made the female holding him coo but at the same time, look between the two males in confusion since she didn't understand the language.

The brunet blushed again, getting the meaning behind those words. He didn't want to stay _put_ , no, he wanted to get out of here and fast! Realizing that the two pair of eyes was still on him, he instantly rushed into the shared bedroom, grabbing his gloves and pills before running out the door. He passed the two with such speed that even Reborn raised eyebrow at it and glanced behind towards the teen. Tsuna was holding the door tightly, his face slightly pale in color, and yelled. "I'll be on the rooftop. Bye!"

Slamming the door shut, he was finally able to escape the sight but that wasn't about to stop him from _hating_ the woman, the woman that was hanging off of Reborn like that as if she owned him. Though no one could possibility own Reborn, after all, Reborn was Reborn. The man that was the number one hit man in the world. It was impossible. Still, he had never really ever hated anyone before besides Byakuran and this strong sensation came as a surprise to him.

As Tsuna stood outside the door, the brunet's heart was pounding in his ears and he was unable to stop himself from feeling that anger that continued to range within. He didn't want to see any of that. His body was leaning against the door, able to hear a couple of giggles pass through and without meaning to, ran off once more. Turning towards the corridor, he made his way to the elevator and stopped in front of it, pressing the up button. It lighted up and he waited impatiently for the metal doors to open, watching the glowing numbers at the top change.

Tsuna sighed to himself depressingly. Tears were almost welling up in his eyes and would have came falling down his face if he hadn't wiped it away beforehand. By the time he arrived at the top, he had managed to calm himself down slightly but it wasn't enough. He could still tell that his emotions were still burning inside of him wildly and as he opened the door to the rooftop, taking a step out to instantly feel the strong breeze that slammed into his face, he felt some of that rage going down. The cool sensation it gave was nice and relaxing and he couldn't help but place a hand on top of his head to keep his hair from fluttering all around and into his face. He was even tempted to sit down somewhere and wait when he remembered the two items he was carrying in his other hand.

'Guess it wouldn't hurt to use them…' Popping one of the pills into his mouth and swallowing, he ignited the orange dying will flame on his forehead. It burned brightly and as he pulled his mittens on, they instantaneously changed into his Vongola gloves. The heat that was coming from the flames kept him slightly warm from the cold air and for a few moments, watched the bright flames flutter in the wind. Quickly, after looking around, he shot off into the sky, trying to get as far away as possible from the building. His eyes trailed over the structure from above as it grew smaller and smaller before taking in the wonderful scenery of Italy. Just looking at the landscape took his troubled mind off of the current situation, he…he really didn't want to see Reborn doing _that_. He wanted…he wanted…what did he want?

Tsuna mentally sighed to himself.

Actually, he wanted a lot of things…all mostly from Reborn. And all of those things were mostly forbidden in his mind. Ever since the incident with Colonello, he had been seeing Reborn in a different light. He really liked the man, more than he really should. Tsuna sighed at that. And then during that storm when they had fallen asleep on the couch, he knew for a fact that it was certain.

He loved Reborn, his teacher, his friend.

Tsuna blushed at his silent confession.

When he got far enough in the air, he stopped and hovered in the sky. The sun was on his back and he could see the ocean in the distance, glittering brightly. He was tempted to fly over there but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to find his way back and he definitely didn't want to face Reborn's wrath when he found out about his departure (as much as he loved the man, he was still afraid of his fury). So he remained where he was at, looking all around.

'Italy is really beautiful up here.' Tsuna smiled to himself, his now orange eyes peering over the city. The entire place was bright and colorful and everything about it was absolutely wonderful (excluding the mafia which he still hated with a passion). He really wouldn't mind staying here when he got older someday. Hovering around in the open air, he noticed that he had to be at least a mile or two away from the condo.

His eyes drifted to the streets, watching the crowds go through their normal routines, until he noticed a familiar blond running among them. Taking a closer look, he noticed that it was the same person from before. 'Wonder what happened…?'

He didn't get to think much on it before he heard a voice calling out, one that he was _very_ familiar with.

"Tsuna? Tsuna, where are you?"

But at the same time, this voice _wasn't_ familiar. He didn't sense the usual smugness. It was filled with…fear?

The sky guardian peered down at the building, seeing a figure standing there at the edge. He immediately flew down, getting closer, making out the black suit and fedora hat, and couldn't help but flutter his eyes in surprise.

"Reborn?" He called out from above, landing on the concrete with ease. He blinked his orange eyes, watching the hit man stare at him calculatingly. The sky flames died out and he closed his eyes, letting the orange turn back to brown. "Did something happen, Reborn?"

The hit man tilted his fedora to hide his expression and folded his arms as if thinking of something then finally spoke. "I didn't know you could fly."

"Huh?" Tsuna was a little confused at the statement since he had been expecting something else but answered nonetheless. "Oh, I was just flying. It helps calm me down. It's actually rare for me to be able to fly around like that without dodging something dangerous or fighting." Tsuna stepped closer, taking his white mittens off. "But what about you? What happened to that woman? I just saw her running away."

"Doesn't matter." Reborn closed his eyes for a few seconds then opened them to stare at the teen once more. His hands were now in his pockets and Leon was on top of his fedora. "About you flying…"

"Ah! Well, this is my specialty. It's similar to Vongola Primo's fighting style, I believe, or that's what you've told me." Tsuna looked down at his hands, at the mittens with the number twenty-seven on it. "This was actually made by Leon and the pills-" Tsuna held up the case up, jiggling them. "-are from Basil, my dad's friend. They let me go into hyper dying will mode."

"And I guess I taught you how to use them."

Tsuna nodded his head and pocketed his items. "Yeah, that's right. But I also learned how to fight by myself too. My Hyper Intuition helped me out a lot in those cases."

Reborn thought deeply to himself for a couple of moments before walking forward. He seemed to have gotten enough for now. "Well, we should better get back inside. It's not safe to stay outside for too long especially out in the open area like this."

"O-Okay."

As they went back down, Tsuna tried asking about the woman again since he hadn't gotten an answer about her at all and to be honest, he was curious (though he did feel really glad that she was now gone). But no matter how many times he pestered, Reborn would give a roundabout answer.

"Why do you want to know so much?" Reborn tilted his fedora downward to cover his eyes slightly.

"Well, it's kinda unusual for you to have a lover running off like that. You're not really the type of person to break up with girls like that or with anyone for that matter."

"Well, she was the one that ran away, I didn't force her."

The sky guardian blinked at that. His intuition was working in full force and it was telling him that what Reborn was saying was a _lie_. He knew it. But why would Reborn lie about something like that? He had to know. "Reborn, why…are you lying to me?"

The hit man stopped in front of the door and glanced to the side where Tsuna was standing and waiting eagerly. "Hmm?"

"You're lying. Why?" Tsuna stared up with innocent and curious eyes. He wanted to know, he wanted to know so badly.

"You _don't_ need to know. I just happened to like someone else better that's all." Reborn didn't know why he was actually talking about this, he shouldn't be doing so. This was a private matter, after all.

But Tsuna wasn't going to give up like that. "Who?"

"I'm not answering that." To get the teen off his case, he sent a glare, forcing the other away. He smirked in victory when he saw Tsuna paling at the sight of his look, glad that he still had a hold over the sky guardian. It made things easier.

Tsuna was the first one to ender the condo since Reborn was holding the door open. The teen fell onto the couch and shivered in fright from the memory of Reborn's glare. He had never seen the hit man do that before, never, not like this. Huffing once he had calmed down enough, he relaxed into the couch and lay on his back to stare at the ceiling. Tsuna, in the end, still wanted to know, he was so curious over this matter. There was no way in hell he was going to give up like this. Who would be able to make Reborn drive off one of his girls like that? It didn't make any sense.

And…and…Tsuna realized that he was feeling _jealous_ over this person. He, who has been with Reborn for such a long time, knew quite a bit about Reborn himself, perhaps not his past and back history, but more on personality. Of course, Tsuna was never going to openly admit this. He wanted to continue living thank you very much.

Grumbling some more, he buried his face into the pillow and huffed again. Reborn, meanwhile, went to another room and closed the door separating themselves from each other. But before doing so, he took one last glance at the sulking teenager and shook his head.

He himself still needed to figure things out. After all, the hit man hadn't done a single thing with the woman, nothing, not even a kiss.

He sighed behind the door after closing it, why was he acting like this?

* * *

Dinner was _extremely_ awkward as the two men quietly ate. Reborn cooked once more but didn't talk very much unless necessary. Tsuna managed to eat normally but every once in a while he would glance up to look at the hit man while his silver fork would screech against the plate. He was the first one to finish up and was about to excuse himself when a glare from Reborn forced him to remain seated. He shivered at the intensity of it. It reminded him of the time when they had first met and Reborn had been so close in putting a bullet through his head.

But what did he do to deserve this? He didn't remember doing or saying anything offending except asking about the woman, nothing else. Tsuna stared down at his empty plate, his thoughts running wild in his mind.

"Reborn?" The brunet started hesitatingly, carefully treading the grounds.

"Hm?"

"A-Are you angry with me?"

"What makes you say that?" Reborn continued to treat this entire situation as if nothing was wrong.

Tsuna didn't back down from the stare, if he did, he knew he would never get any answers whatsoever. Reborn has always demanded him to be braver, right? "Well, for starters, you're glaring at me."

"I always look like this." Reborn took a long drink from his glass to distract himself.

"No… You don't." Tsuna didn't know where his sudden spree of courage was coming from but it was just like that time he had talked to Verde with such confidence that it scared him. However, right now, he was thanking the source since he knew he would definitely need it. "You were so kind to me earlier. You'd always do things that would make me smile and laugh…" Tsuna suddenly remembered some of those…unpleasant memories… "Well, most of the time. But now, you're all cold to me and it all started the moment that girl came in. So what changed Reborn? Did I…Did I do something wrong?" The brunet appeared like he was going to cry at any moment with his eyes watering up and gave that depressed expression.

The hit man fell silent, picking up the empty dishes on the table, and placed them into the sink with two sharp clicks. He grumbled softly to himself and turned around to stare at Tsuna. There was a silence between them, both staring each other down. Reborn just sighed and leaned against the counter with his arms folded. "Trust me, Tsuna, you're better off not knowing what goes on in my head." With that comment, Tsuna just stared in confusion and tilted his head. "I may act nice but I'm not and I highly doubt you'll be happy once you know what I _really_ think about you."

The sky guardian jumped off his chair and took a step forward in courage. He would have congratulated himself if he wasn't in this dire situation. "It's alright. I want to know. I really do and I've always have."

"So you're not going to regret it nor back down?" Reborn whispered, slowly pushing himself away from the counter.

"No… Should I?" Tsuna didn't feel as comfortable as he had before when he noticed how close the older man was getting and took a step back to get some space between them. Instead, he hit the kitchen counter. The brunet swallowed in fear, that courage he had been feeling before had left right out his body. He was cornered with no hope of escape in sight, not with Reborn peering down at him. Tsuna was starting to regret his decision, but at the same time, he didn't either.

Slowly, Reborn's right hand reached out to touch the face before him, the cheeks specifically, and caressed them gently with his thumb. The cold calculating eyes were staring directly into Tsuna's as if looking for something.

And when he found it, he leaned forward, closing off the distance.

Tsuna froze, he didn't know what to do. His fingers clawed at the wooden counter and stared into the distance, unable to look at the man before at the moment. He could feel the warm lips on his own, just pressing them together softly. Reborn pulled back for a second as if considering something before attacking again, seeing as he hadn't received any protest (probably because Tsuna was still in shock). The hit man licked the bottom lip, his fingers curling around the small chin. Applying a little bit of pressure, he got the mouth to open up, which gave him the entrance he desired. Taking no time in slipping his tongue in, the hit man tasted the sweetness that was inside.

Tsuna felt himself getting pushed back against the counter, his body squished in-between. His face, on the other hand, blushed bright red but couldn't find it within himself to protest. He could smell the strong of scent cologne on Reborn and felt the fingers that ran over his face, slowly going down, moving further and further to his neck.

Finally, Tsuna had enough.

With strength he didn't realize he had, he managed to shove the other away and crawl out between the spaces that appeared.

"R-Reborn?" The brunet's appearance was fluttered and he was out of breath, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. His eyes were staring at the man before him, confusion evident on his face. Though he was extremely happy that he had finally gotten something from the other, he clearly hadn't been expecting it like this. "W-Why…?"

The hit man sighed and went closer, taking off his fedora and placed it on the kitchen counter with Leon. He ran a hand through his spiky locks and then rested on one of his curls, messing with it. "Shouldn't it be obvious?"

Tsuna shook his head and backed further away. He was confused, why would Reborn do such a thing with him and yet, in his chest, he was…happy… He knew he loved Reborn but he knew at the same time that it was impossible for his feelings to be returned. But here was Reborn, the man he really liked, _kissing_ him. He didn't get it. He didn't understand it at all.

The older man narrowed his eyes and reached forward, grabbing Tsuna's hand, keeping the teen from escaping. He dragged the other from the kitchen and into the living room all a while with a frown on his lips.

The sky guardian could only squeak out an "R-Reborn?" and let himself get dragged around like a doll.

"Do you want to know why that woman left?" The hit man growled, his eyes staring into the honey-colored ones. He turned around completely with a sneer on his lips. "It's because of this." He kissed the slightly parted lips gently once more, silencing the other. "It's because I saw your face when I leaned into her."

Tsuna gave a look of complete shock. "W-What?"

"I don't know if it's because of your kindness and smiles or your damn attitude but you've wormed your way into my mind and I can't seem to get you out. And for some odd reason, I can't leave you alone either. I want to keep my eyes on you. I know very well that you're going to disappear sometime to head back to your time even though…even though I know I'm going to be there with you." Reborn paused for a second, grumbling. "It gets me irritated that I have to wait for at least ten years before I can see you again."

Tsuna stared. He didn't know what to do. What _could_ he do? This was Reborn he was talking about. He's never seen the man do anything out of normal even when Reborn had been a baby. And here he was, getting to see Reborn in his panicking state, complaining under his breath. The honey-colored eyes continued to stare, watching the hit man let him go and fold his arms in frustration. Slowly, Tsuna moved forward. He wanted to ease the other. He didn't understand why but he had to do it and carefully wrapped his arms around Reborn's waist, hugging him and burying himself into the warm body. He realized that this was what he would do with the kids back at home when they were either scared or in panic.

Reborn glanced down in surprise and with questioning eyes. "What are you doing?"

Tsuna blushed, keeping himself still. "W-Well, I usually do this to the kids at home so I figured that it might work on you too. Sorry…" He was about to pull away when Reborn stopped him by hooking an arm around his back. "Huh?"

A hand reached down to rub the untidy locks. Reborn smirked. "You're too cute. You're definitely a keeper." He kissed the forehead then leaned downward for the lips, tilting the head upward. Tsuna still didn't fight back and remained still, watching. "If you don't say anything, I believe that gives me permission to do whatever I want."

Swallowing, Tsuna pushed back once more. He blushed bright red and even darker when he saw the cunning leer on Reborn's face. He didn't know exactly what the man had meant at first but gradually it came to him. Tsuna could just imagine what Reborn was going to do to him and he was frightened of it…but at the same time, he wanted it to come true.

Reborn chuckled at the expression and leaned in for another kiss. He could tell easily what Tsuna was thinking about, it wasn't hard as the face continued to grow darker in color. He ran a finger down the side of the face, feeling the softness of the cheeks, and decided that he really liked it. Even as Reborn ran his hand through the caramel-colored hair, he adored the softness of the strands and rubbed his fingers together in the mess.

Looks like he was going to have what he wanted tonight and at long last.


	15. Final

Tsuna felt completely lost.

He knew what was going on, but at the same time, he couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. But as he shifted closer to the warmth of the hand that was running through his hair, all his thoughts left his head. Closing one eye when the hand pushed some of his hair into it, he stared up at the other man, watching curiously. The brunet instantly swooned over another kiss, letting Reborn do what he wanted, unable to resist.

The hitman smirked and pulled away, slowly dragging the teen backward by the hand, to his bedroom. The grip on his fingers was tight, telling him that Tsuna was scared, and he couldn't help but give a comforting squeeze in return. The door squeaked loudly as he pushed it open, leading the other towards the bed that was standing there innocently, like nothing was wrong. Tsuna was promptly pushed down onto the sheets, his body jumping a little from the springs, and let out a shocked cry. His hair was scattered over the comforter, arms at the sides of his head, and stared upward with wide eyes.

Reborn grinned at the sight of him and crawled onto the bed, shifting their bodies so that Tsuna's head was now resting on the pillow. His hand rubbed Tsuna's right cheek, his thumb caressing it gently. Straddling narrow hips, he made sure that Tsuna wouldn't be able to struggle back against him and urgently started to unbutton the other's clothes. Tsuna blushed as he felt his articles of clothing being rapidly removed from his body. He opened his mouth to protest before being swiftly silenced by another kiss. The mere touch of the hitman's lips against his own sent shivers down his spine and Tsuna couldn't help but push closer to get a better taste. His eyes closed and the brunet tilted his head to the side to allow better access.

Reborn hummed in approval, his chuckle sending vibrations along Tsuna's body, and pushed the other further into the bed. His hands passed over the boy's remaining clothes, trailing upwards and slipping into untamable caramel-colored hair. His grip tightened, massaging his fingers into the scalp, and deepened the kiss, slithering his tongue inside. A soft moan came from below, Tsuna's fingers gripping Reborn's white shirt in an attempt to hold onto something, as if trying to keep himself sane.

As Reborn broke the kiss for a second, he spoke. "I'm not going to stop, no matter what you say." He planted kisses along the delectable collarbone and neck before him, trailing up and down, before returning to the soft, kiss-swollen lips. He silenced any and all protests, just wanting to hear the other moan in delight. His fingers retracted from the tangle of hair they were trapped in and pulled the rest of the brunet's shirt off before he began working on Tsuna's pants. He only managed to get it halfway off when the boy suddenly sprang up.

He snapped his head away, breaking the kiss. "W-Wait!"

Reborn smirked, expecting this reaction. "Oh no, this is your fault. You're the one who wanted to find out about this. This is _exactly_ what you deserve."

Tsuna colored at that, and then reddened even further when he realized that he was lying nearly naked before Reborn. He swallowed and stared up at the older man.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” Reborn laughed at the expression he was getting and leaned forward for another kiss as his fingers ventured down to the teen’s underwear. Pulling that off next, he looked over the petite body beneath him, licking his lips at the sight, and chuckled in amusement. “Looking good.”

He bent over Tsuna’s chest, licking his skin while one hand moved down to cup the obvious erection the brunet was now sporting. His other hand remained where the teen’s right nipple was, pinching and squeezing, garnering all sorts of arousing sounds. As he continued his ministrations above, his cold fingers wrapped around Tsuna below, pumping him languorously, before swiping a devious tongue around the other’s hardened nub.

“R-Reborn! Ah! S-Stop!”

“No way.” The hitman rubbed his fingers teasingly over the tip of the teen’s member. Tsuna snapped his head back in pleasure, his legs spreading reflexively as Reborn moved downward to settle between them. The brunet reached up with one hand to shakily cover his mouth while his other hand held tightly onto Reborn’s shirt. Huffing at being unable to move as easily because of Tsuna’s grip, Reborn took off that remaining piece of clothing, relinquishing it into the other’s possession, and moved the hand that had been working on the boy’s nipple to his entrance below. His fingers circled the tender flesh and massaged it softly.

“Sorry about this. I don’t really have anything for you to make this easier at the moment. Normally I would, but as luck has it, I don’t.” He pulled back slightly, staring at his fingers for a moment, before an idea came to mind. Bringing his hand over to Tsuna’s mouth, Reborn’s intention became clear, and the brunet immediately allowed the fingers to slip inside. He did as he was told, Reborn’s eyes directing and tracking his actions hungrily, and sucked on the digits willingly to get them wet. The hitman smirked, wanting nothing more than to be inside of Tsuna and fucking the teen until he was unconscious. But he knew that it was still too soon and would cause more pain to the other than pleasure; something he’d rather not do. He also knew that if this didn’t go well, Tsuna would run away from him afterwards and possibly never return. And that would be too much trouble. Pulling his hand away from the warm mouth, he went below and slowly slid a single digit in. He instantly felt the muscles contract, squeezing his finger, the body tensing. “Tsuna, you need to relax. If you don’t, I’m going to end up splitting you in two.”

“A-Are you serious?” The sky guardian cried out. It was a strange sensation and very uncomfortable, but it wasn’t hurting.

“Yes, so listen to me. It’ll make things easier for you.” Reborn commanded, waiting for the muscles to relax, and gradually, they did. He sighed in relief, watching the expression on Tsuna’s face lighten a little. He nodded in approval and slipped in a second finger carefully. Reborn received the same reaction as before and whispered kind words into the brunet’s ear. He knew that the brunet was trying to keep himself relaxed and twisted his fingers around, scissoring, trying to widen the entrance.

“R-Reborn…” Tsuna breathed, arching his back and widening his legs to adjust himself better. And then the digits brushed against something deep inside. “Ah! Nngh!”

“Oh? That was a nice reaction.” Reborn pressed against that same spot, knowing he had found the boy’s prostate. Tsuna screamed in return, all thoughts fleeing his head with a simple touch, and couldn’t help but want more of the feeling. The hitman watched, wetting his lips at the vision that a squirming and thoroughly debauched Tsuna presented. “Holy shit, Tsuna, you’re really hot when you’re fucking yourself on my fingers.”

The third digit slipped in unnoticed, helping in hitting that same bundle of nerves.

“R-Reborn… Nngh!” Tsuna moaned, wanting more. “Ah… ah!”

The older man blushed slightly at the luscious sight and yanked his fingers out before he truly lost himself to what he was seeing. A low whimper of disapproval came from the teen, dazed eyes blinking open lustfully. That one look coaxed a rumbling growl from Reborn, and soon after, he had his pants down, entering the body before him with one quick thrust. “Tch. Damn, you’re tight.”

He almost came right there and then as Tsuna’s passage clenched around him, but held himself back. Moaning quietly, he pulled out of the teen before slamming back in. Tsuna screamed as a direct hit was made to his prostate, and continued to claw at the discarded white shirt Reborn had given to him.

“That’s right, scream for me.” Reborn grunted, aiming directly at that one area again. His fingers clenched firmly around pale hips, lifting them up to improve his aim. Tsuna’s hands released the creased article of clothing and, in its stead, wrapped around the other’s neck, pulling him down aggressively for a kiss. It was more of an attempt to silence himself from shouting as each thrust made his body shudder and spasm in ecstasy. His legs hooked around Reborn’s back, pulling the hitman closer and deeper into his body.

Their tongues tangled within their mouths, fighting each other viciously, while Tsuna’s clothes lay scattered around their bodies, forgotten in the heat of the moment. Reborn broke away to catch his breath, having almost completely forgotten about his need for oxygen during their vigorous kissing, too engulfed by desire. “Dear God, Tsuna. I swear that if you dare look like that in front of anyone else other than me, I will kill that person myself and then come back for you.” He barely stifled a moan as Tsuna’s muscles squeezed him tightly. Burying his face into the crook of the brunet’s neck, he inhaled the other’s earthy scent.

“R-Reborn…please…” Tsuna moaned, eyes rolling back, holding the hitman dearly.

“You’re mine, got that? No one else can have you like this.” By now, Reborn had completely forgotten his surroundings, freeing himself of all his inhibitions for once, focusing only on the brunet that was shivering below him. He didn’t even care if Tsuna had heard him or not; it didn’t matter. He was going to claim the brunet as his; no one else would be allowed to touch him like he did and no one would be able to see himself like this other than him. Tsuna was his and only his.

The brunet was the first to reach his limit, letting out a cry as he arched beautifully and came messily onto his stomach. Reborn didn’t last much longer as Tsuna’s muscles spasmed around him, impossibly hot and tight, coming in a series of hot spurts. He released a long moan, sated and exhausted, barely keeping himself from collapsing on top of the other. He wound his arms around Tsuna’s head, lifting him up for one last kiss. Tsuna, still high off of his mind-blowing orgasm, responded weakly, his body still shuddering at the feeling of Reborn buried within him.

“Tsuna, you’re mine, got that?” The hitman repeated, not waiting for an answer before he pulled out, trying to stitch himself back together after losing all sense in the heat of the moment. Running a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, he finally took notice of the state of the room and spotted parts of his outfit scattered across the floor, his designer label suit draped haphazardly on top of his chest of drawers. By then, Tsuna had fainted from exhaustion, no longer bothering to fight with himself to remain awake, and had fallen quickly into a deep sleep. Reborn shook his head with fond exasperation, having expected this to happen, and gathered all their clothes together into a pile, placing it on the bed. He cleaned themselves of the mess they had made and dressed himself and Tsuna, before maneuvering the teen to the side of the bed so that he could lie down.

It had been a while since he’d felt this tired and the moment his body met the bed sheets, he was out like a light, curling up close to Tsuna. Unconsciously, the teen imitated his actions, snuggling up to the warm body next to him.

* * *

When morning came, Tsuna could feel his entire body throbbing. However, that wasn't the reason as to why he had woken up so early. No, there was something else, something ringing in the back of his head. Tsuna blinked his eyes tiredly, clearing his mind so that he could try to understand what was going on. The ringing turned into thoughts, and then whispers, and suddenly, he found himself fully awake. They were familiar, something that had existed within him for a long time, his intuition…

The brunet's eyes widened as he grasped the situation before him. His gut was telling him something… something… and then it came to him.

He would be going back soon… very soon.

And he honestly didn't want to go, not yet.

He enjoyed Reborn's company – more than he should. No – he had admitted to himself that he loved Reborn and last night gave him the proof he wanted from the other that Reborn loved him too. As he snuggled closer to the older man, he cursed the inevitable; that he would have to leave… leave Reborn all alone for the next ten years. Tsuna's honey-colored eyes drifted upward, staring at the hitman's face sadly. There was no helping it, though, and he forced himself to push those thoughts out of his mind.

He had to confess that it was _still_ strange to wake up next to the adult version of his tutor, much less his real sleeping face. Tsuna was tempted to reach out and touch him, but he knew that the moment he moved, Reborn, having his arms wrapped around him, would immediately wake up. So he decided that he'd just admire the man's good looks in the meantime.

"You're staring at my face again." A voice came from the other's lips.

Tsuna yelped, startled, and would have jumped if the hitman's grip hadn't tightened. His face darkened in color and he looked down, but that only made him more aware of their… situation. A smile crept across Reborn's once peaceful face when he noticed the pink tinting on Tsuna's cheeks and he leaned over to press their lips together gently. Tsuna responded instantly, reaching out his fingers to run over the other's clothed chest. When Reborn pulled back, he was licking his lips. "A bit forward, aren't we?" He questioned with a wicked grin. Puzzled at first, Tsuna squeaked when he finally realized what he had done and tossed the covers back over his head. All he heard from the other was laughter.

After the hilarity had died down a bit, he peeked out shyly from beneath the covers. Reborn, still having a grin plastered across his face, stretched his limbs, and started to wander around the room, getting his things together. He glanced back at the bundle of body and bed sheets, shaking his head. "Tsuna, I'm going to take a shower." He smirked. "You can join me if you wish." His smirk grew wider as he heard another loud squeak escape the teen's mouth, before walking towards the bathroom, laughing. The door closed behind him, leaving Tsuna alone in the room. Refusing to leave the safety of the bed covers until he heard the water turn on, the brunet used this time to wait for his blush to subside.

When he finally crawled out from underneath the covers, a frown had found its way onto his face in place of his blush. He looked around the room, spotting his backpack and clothes. He slowly made his way towards them, trying to get used to the stiffness of his body movements. It wasn't too bad; he was already so used to getting beat up every day that this was hardly anything to him. What was new, though, was the indeterminable ache that he was feeling in his chest. Every breath he took seemed heavier than the last.

'Just a few more minutes…' Tsuna thought to himself, gathering everything up, not caring how he was stuffing them into his bag. Glancing over himself in the body-length mirror, he made sure that he looked as close as possible to how he looked before all this had happened. That meant he had to be in his school uniform and everything. He peered at the door to the bathroom, wondering how Reborn was going to react to his sudden disappearance. He sighed. 'Maybe I should leave a note or something…'

Tsuna nodded to himself, and approached a table that had some papers scattered across it. There wasn't a pen or pencil nearby so he searched through the drawers to find one. Grabbing a relatively unimportant-looking sheet of paper, he wrote a few sentences on it, hoping that Reborn would understand his horrible handwriting and the meaning in his words.

' _Reborn, I know this might sound crazy, but I actually knew that I would be disappearing soon. I can't really explain how I knew, but I did. I didn't tell you about it earlier because I didn't want you to worry. I don't regret my decision to not tell you, but I do regret having to leave so soon. I won't ever forget about the time we spent together. This isn't a goodbye – you'll see me again. Trust me._ '

Tsuna scanned the note sadly and then sighed, wondering how everything was going to turn out when he got home. How was he going to explain to the other Reborn, the one who was waiting for him in the future, what had happened? Or much less bring up the subject in the first place? Well, he'd deal with that when the time comes.

His eyes turned back to the bathroom and he smiled sorrowfully as he closed them. "See you later, Reborn."

Puff…

Tsuna flinched at the sudden sound as a pink cloud of smoke covered his vision. He relaxed once he recognized it, and ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the brown strands. As the smoke cleared, he spotted concrete ground underneath his feet and took in the familiar scenery around him.

He was finally home.


	16. Gone

Tsuna blinked his eyes; everything was back to normal, everything. For a moment, he thought that maybe the time he had spent with Reborn had been nothing more than a deluded daydream, but the soreness he felt in his body told him otherwise. He licked his lips, still able to taste the hitman from the kiss they had shared in the morning, just a few minutes ago.

To him, everything seemed to be back to normal, or as normal as one could ever get in Tsuna's position. Mentally preparing himself for anything that might come up, he closed his eyes and took in some deep breaths to release any tension that might have remained in his body. He was going to see the baby version of Reborn at any moment. Would Reborn still remember him from ten years ago? Well, he should. Tsuna _did_ use his real name and Vongola Ninth and Iemitsu must have mentioned something. How long had it been? He had stayed in the past for a long time, more than a week. Would anyone have noticed his disappearance?

Taking a step forward, his foot knocked into something hard. 'Huh? What's this?' He recognized the device he had hit instantly, not that it was hard to. The ten year bazooka was at his feet, rolling slightly when he had bumped into it with his foot. "What's this still doing here?" Then he noticed the sparks that were shooting from it and he immediately jumped away in fear, afraid that he might get shot at again and this time be sent to some strange dimension.

His eyes widened as something came to mind as he continued to stare. "No… way, there's no way… " Tsuna's large honey-colored eyes peered at the crater Lambo had made at the beginning of this trip; there was still smoke coming from it… as if it had been… _recent_.

"Could only a few minutes have passed by here? Is that even possible?" Tsuna looked around the area more closely but everything looked the same as it had before. Nothing had changed since when he had been shot. Feeling a rushing sensation, he started walking, leaving the ten year bazooka on the ground – but not before kicking it in anger, making more sparks flash.

Picking up his pace until he was almost running, he tried to get home as fast as possible. He had to find out the date, he had to figure out what was going on. Slamming open the front door to his house, he ran inside, not even bothering to take off his shoes, and went straight to the kitchen…

But there was no one inside. Even his mom wasn't there, and he didn't see Reborn anywhere either. Still, he searched for a calendar or phone, anything that would tell him the date and time. Spying the answering machine, he immediately went to it and pressed the date button. It beeped; once, twice, before changing its display.

"It's still the same day I left… and looking at the time, only five minutes have passed here while I was gone… That's not… possible… is it?" Tsuna paled, running a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down. Retreating a few steps, his back hit the wall behind him and he leaned against it, staring into space. He felt that something was terribly wrong but believed that the feeling was only associated with what was happening around him. His school bag slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a loud clatter, the contents almost falling out. 'Okay, Tsuna, you can do this… You've got to pull yourself together. You just need to ask if Reborn remembers about that time… but in a roundabout kind of way. You don't exactly want to give yourself away, there's no telling what could happen…' He attempted to give himself some uncharacteristic coaching, as futile as that may prove to be.

He tried to imagine how it would all turn out before giving up and glaring at answering machine instead, feeling the urge to rip it out of the wall and toss it aside. He didn't know why, but he wanted to… so badly that it hurt. Still, he resisted and wrapped his arms around his body, as if hugging himself. 'Right, ask Reborn if he remembers… I feel like committing suicide right now.'

Tsuna sighed, shoulders slumping, and glanced down at the floor. He finally noticed that he still had his shoes on and slowly made his way back to the front door after grabbing his school bag. Taking off his shoes, his eyes peered up the stairs, wanting to head to his bedroom and find Reborn. He swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to gather his courage, but as he took his first step, he could already feel himself weakening. It was as if each step was draining him of his energy and courage but Tsuna kept going until he got to the top. He went down the hallway until he came to a stop in front of his bedroom door. It was opened a crack, enough for that the sunlight that was probably coming from his window to peek through. The hinges creaked as he pushed open the door, and he went in, expecting anything to happen.

But nothing did.

Reborn wasn't there.

'Guess he went out with my mom and the kids. That would probably explain why everything is so quiet.' Tsuna shook his head. They must have just left before he came home, probably right after I-Pin and Lambo came back. That meant he was going to have to remain here and wait in the meantime for their return. Ah… the hardest thing… to _wait_.

Tossing his school bag to one side without care, this time his papers scattering out, he flopped down onto his bed, taking a liking to the softness of the familiar sheets. It was nice against his sore body. Everything was just as he had left it. Closing his eyes, he buried his face into his pillow and continued to think.

How was he supposed to ask Reborn if he knew anything? There was no way he could just go up to him and blurt it out; he had a strong feeling deep inside that that would be a bad idea. However, as he looked over his memories of the time he had been with Reborn before this whole incident, he had never seen the hitman look at him any differently. Was it to hide the fact that Reborn loved him or was it because he didn't know?

"Argh! I'll just have to ask when he gets back!" Tsuna cried out loud into his pillow, getting frustrated over his own thoughts.

Still, he relaxed into his bed and stared into the darkness behind his eyelids. He took another deep breath. Who else would remember him from the past? There were the other arcobalenos that had seen him when he went to visit them with Reborn; would they remember him? 'Well, I think they're more likely to… forget me since I only met them once. And then there was that kiss… with Colonello…' Tsuna blushed at that, never thinking that the blond baby would take his first kiss. Who knew? He definitely didn't. He hadn't even been that close to Colonello in the first place.

'And then there's Xanxus, but I doubt he'll remember anything. He knows the name Yoshi but that's about it. I don't really think I want to call him about that… though I still find it funny that he was flirting with me of all people without realizing it. I wonder what would happen if he were to find out the truth… And what happened to Lenard…?' Tsuna paused, opening his eyes for a moment to stare at the opposite side of the room. 'Actually, I don't think I want to know anything… I'd rather have him hating me, it would be so much better. But I still have to confront him about this. It wouldn't be right unless I did so. Oh, and what about Dad? Does he know…? Maybe the reason why he wanted me to be Vongola Decimo was because he knew.'

The brunet picked himself up. There were so many questions, so many that it was starting to give him a headache. There was so much he wanted to know, to find out. What had happened during these ten years? Yet, after he had reflected over so many memories, he never saw any hints of anyone knowing about him.

'Damn it, I'm just digging myself into a deeper hole… Come on, Reborn, come home already.' Tsuna groaned and closed his eyes again, wanting to fall asleep. That would help him to regain some badly needed strength and for time to move a little faster.

But he had no clue as to how to handle this situation with Reborn.

It still stumped him.

Without realizing it he dozed off, sleeping serenely on his bed, completely content, as if nothing in the world could disturb him. It was only later that he was startled awake from his peaceful slumber by the opening and closing of a door. Tsuna blinked his eyes, trying to get rid his sleepiness and rubbed them with the back of his hands. A yawn escaped his lips and he stretched until he heard the satisfying sound of his back popping. Running a hand through his messy hair, he pushed back some of his bangs and glanced over to his clock. Three hours had passed. He sighed, knowing that it was now or never.

And if Reborn refused to give him any indications of remembrance…

Tsuna would lie through his teeth about the incident ever happening.

Swinging his feet over the side of his bed, he exited his bedroom, now able to hear the children making noise downstairs. There was some clattering here and there, probably from the pots and pans. Each step creaked under him as he made his way down the stairs and entered the kitchen where he could see his whole family getting ready for dinner. His eyes zeroed on Reborn and even as many things rushed through his mind, he remained still, watching carefully. Quietly taking a breath, he walked in as if nothing was wrong.

"You're back." Tsuna smiled softly, heading straight for his mom, wondering what she was going to be making tonight. As he peered over her shoulder, he was thinking of ways to bring up the dreaded conversation with Reborn while trying not to appear too obvious. This was going to be harder than he thought…

"Reborn, let me help you." Bianchi spoke from behind, helping the baby up to the table with a smile on her face. Her long pink hair was flowing over her shoulders, hands holding Reborn gently.

A flare of jealousy bubbled in his stomach but he refused to act on it. However, he found this the perfect moment to question the hitman. "Hey, Reborn, can I ask something?"

The hitman glanced over at him with his large black eyes. They still looked the same as before the whole incident had happened, Tsuna was sure of that. No difference could be detected at all, not even in the voice that spoke to him. "What is it, Dame-Tsuna?"

"Well, I have been wondering about this. You've said that you have multiple lovers beside Bianchi, right? Is there one you really like out of all of them? And if there is one, do you know where they are right now? No offense, Bianchi, but I'm kinda curious." Tsuna stepped closer, wary of what might occur if something bad happened because of his question. He was also afraid of how Bianchi would react too; would she make him try her cooking as she attacked? If she did, he was going to make sure that he was out of there faster than she could do anything and hope that she didn't come after him.

Reborn tilted his head and then shrugged his shoulders before glancing up at Bianchi, who wasn't really all that concerned about the question. "Well, Bianchi is my fourth girlfriend and I have had so many lovers that I can't keep count anymore. Do I like anyone more than the others? Not really, I love them all equally."

"Aww… Reborn, you're so sweet." The pink-haired woman cooed, rubbing her face against Reborn's cheek.

However, it had a different effect on Tsuna. He could feel his blood running cold but decided to keep going. Was he on the same level as Bianchi? He tilted his head and gave the hitman a look of confusion. He couldn't figure out how he was able to pull all this off without alerting Reborn but went along with it. It was just like that instance when he had been talking to Verde and had to confront adult Reborn. "Really? Actually, I heard that in Italy that it is common to have… male lovers*…"

"Why all the questions suddenly?" Reborn huffed, black eyes narrowing in suspicion, but answering anyway. "No, I don't have a male lover. I can't even remember the last time I've been that close to a man; it must have been so long ago. It's probably not even that important to remember in the first place."

This made Tsuna go still. How he was able to keep his mask of curiosity in place was beyond him. He couldn't believe his ears… He just couldn't… But he had no choice as the words continued to echo in his mind repeatedly. It was painful, as if Reborn's words were ripping his heart apart. He could feel in his chest a burning sensation as he desperately tried to keep his world together.

He felt like he had died right there.

Tsuna realized that he had been… _forgotten_ … or had become a person that wasn't even important. He hoped and prayed that it was not the latter, but at the same time, it would mean that he had never existed to Reborn… like he had never been there… The realization made his heart thump painfully.

He could feel himself falling apart from the inside. Memories of the days he had spent with the adult version of Reborn flashed through his head and those reminiscences seemed to burn in his mind, like a picture that had been placed too close to a flame. The charred blackness spread until it engulfed everything, leaving only ashes behind.

What happened to his note? Of their time together? He dared not ask. He could hardly speak and was barely able to hear anything as people started to move around. Tsuna could sense his feet stepping back to turn to his mom, who had called out to him, saying something about dinner, but he couldn't _hear_. A haze fell over him and anything that was being spoken was dulled out and disjointed. Could Reborn truly not recall any of their moments together? Tsuna bit his bottom lip almost hard enough to draw blood.

After that, everything was a blur. He had somehow managed to excuse himself to do some homework so he could get away from this place, from this nightmare. Tsuna knew that Reborn was about to follow him but Bianchi suddenly wrapped her arms around him, keeping the baby there. He was wholeheartedly glad for that intervention; he wasn't sure how he would have dealt with everything if Reborn had followed him or even questioned his strange behavior.

Closing his bedroom door, he slumped down against it, staring out the window at the setting sun. He wanted to cry, to release all the frustration, all the sadness, all the anger he was feeling right now out into the open. But he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to cry, to even get his eyes to water much less a tear to come down. He couldn't get his mouth to work – it was as if his facial muscles were stuck in place. Every nerve in his body hurt. An ache pounded away in his head, thumping in his skull over and over again.

Tsuna felt empty, as if there was nothing inside.

It had finally sunk in as his conversation with Reborn played in his mind for the umpteenth time. He felt so broken. So defeated… so betrayed…

He had been forgotten by the very person he loved.


	17. Chance

Tsuna sighed; it had been over two weeks since his return from the past. Things had seemingly gone back to normal, or as normal as they could be. Everyone acted as if nothing had ever happened and he continued on with life just as he had before the whole incident had occurred. However, with his new experience, he couldn't help but see others in a slightly different light. For example, he started to notice people's reactions around him more often than before, the sudden twitches his friends would make when they looked at each other and the way people spoke, like their different tones when speaking about certain subjects. But on top of that, he kept a sharp eye on Reborn. He tried his best to appear like he wasn't doing so, but he had been caught many times… repeatedly. Still, that didn't stop him from continuing and Reborn never bothered to ask why, something he was glad for.

So Tsuna carried on watching Reborn, hoping to find any hints of what had happened to make the man, well, baby change. But nothing came up and his heart sank further into the darkness of his thoughts. During those two weeks, he had held back his tears, his emotions about the whole subject, refusing to let a word slip pass his lips, and tried to proceed as typically as humanly possible.

Still, he had to be honest with himself. He was beginning to miss the adult Reborn greatly; his heart was aching in agreement.

Tsuna sighed deeply, letting all the stress that had built up in his body fall out of him before taking a step forward. He peered up curiously at the building he was approaching, watching his reflection as he came closer to the front glass doors. The place was called Aghast Apartments, and had been built only roughly a year ago. It was twenty-four stories high and people were continuously walking in and out of it. Right now, he was alone, having ditched all his friends during school by using the bathroom excuse, and somehow managing to avoid Hibari as he left the school grounds. Luckily for him, Reborn had gone out with his mother during the morning to go shopping and when they went shopping, they would be gone for hours. Sometimes, they wouldn't come back until _after_ he came home.

As he walked into the building, he easily blended into the group of people that were inside and he headed straight to the elevator. No one threw him so much as a glance, even though he was in his school uniform, and he pressed the top floor from the array of buttons, watching it light up. The metal doors closed slowly and he waited as the elevator went up, stopping now and then for someone to get off before going up once more. By the time it reached the top floor, he was all alone in the metal box, the dinging sound echoing in his ears as it announced his arrival. Making his way to the stairs that led to the rooftop, he glanced down at his watch, checking the time.

'Nine fifty-eight, almost time.' Tsuna thought to himself, before pushing open the heavy door. The hinges squeaked loudly as he did so and he had to use more force since the wind on the other side was preventing him from swinging it open. 'Let's see if _he_ remembers. I sure hope so…'

Immediately, light entered his corneas from the sun as the door budged open. A strong gust of wind would have pushed him back if he hadn't gripped onto the railing. He held himself sturdy, making his way out into the open, and took a deep breath, glancing around the area.

There was no one here. He was by himself, all alone.

His shoulders instantly slumped at the realization and he collapsed in the center of the area. He felt completely drained, as if the energy he previously had had been sucked right out of him. Sitting up, his arms supported him against the rough cement below; the little pebbles that had managed to remain on top of the building were digging into the palms of his hands. The wind tossed his hair around wildly, making his bangs slap him in the face. He could still hear the cars from twenty-four stories down honking loudly in the streets. Nevertheless, regardless of what had just transpired, he had to admit that it was a peaceful day, enough so that all he wanted to do was to lie back and fall asleep forever. The warmth of the sun felt great against his skin and the wind kept him cool as it pushed him around.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard the door creak open and the sound of small footsteps pitter-pattering right behind him. His eyes widened with the awareness of no longer being alone but he didn't bother to turn around yet.

"Huh? Vongola?"

At the familiar voice, Tsuna twisted his head to the source, peering down at the green-haired baby. His half-lidded eyes were wide open for once, staring at Tsuna in shock. The brunet blinked a few times before a soft smile bloomed across his lips.

Verde had showed up. 'So he did remember…' Shifting closer to the baby, he gave a weak wave and tilted his head to the side, allowing his bangs to cover his eyes. "Hey, Verde-san… or should I call you, Verde?"

In front of the door stood the lightning arcobaleno, dressed in the same manner as when he had last seen the baby. Not only that, the clothes he was wearing were similar to the adult's version, only shrunk to his size. Remembering back, Verde was the one he had made his promise to ten years in the past. Now that Tsuna had seen both the adult and the baby versions, the resemblance was obvious – they were one and the same. As he thought that, he couldn't help but silently snicker at the shocked expression Verde was still giving him.

"You know, for a moment, I thought that you might have forgotten. Ten years is quite long, I have to admit. I wouldn't have been surprised if you had forgotten to meet up with me." Tsuna laughed softly to himself, scratching the back of his head. He remained seated on the ground so that he didn't have to slant his head so far down to see the other.

Managing to shake himself out of his stupor, Verde carefully stepped forward, examining every location on the rooftop but finding nothing out of the ordinary. There obviously wasn't an ounce of trust within his eyes, his surprise turning into a glare, but he continued closer, his hair getting caught by the strong wind. Even with all the suspicion he was showing, Verde's jade-colored eyes were peering at him with curiosity and interest and his small hands were out of his pockets for once.

The brunet couldn't help but chuckle at the reactions he was getting, though he couldn't blame the scientist. He had realized along the way that he was acting a lot more serious than usual, more mature, and he mentally questioned himself about it, but didn't think on it any further. There were more important things to deal with first. "There's nothing for you to worry about Verde, I promised to come alone and I did. I have no intention of harming you."

The lightning arcobaleno stopped in front of Tsuna, eyes wide as realization began to settle into his mind about _who_ this person was. He finally spoke after a couple of minutes had passed. Something seemed to flash within his eyes during that time; it was as if he was remembering something that he should have known from the very beginning, something important. Verde didn't understand the sensation and he didn't like that. However, the answer to this feeling was right before him, he knew it. "Are you telling me… that you're the one, the kid that Reborn had brought with him all those years ago?"

Tsuna nodded. "Correct. And that's why I couldn't give away my identity. Do you know what could have happened if I told you that I was Sawada Tsunayoshi, the candidate to be Vongola Demico?"

The little green-haired baby shook his head before reaching into his right pocket to grab something. Tsuna almost tensed but his intuition was telling him otherwise, that everything was okay, that everything was going to work out. A piece of paper appeared in Verde's hands and the scientist had to hold onto it tightly to make sure that it didn't fly off from the wind. His coat flaps fluttered behind him and then to his side whenever the wind changed direction. As he stared at the paper, he paused for a second to rotate it to let Tsuna see. Leaning closer, the brunet could make out his scribbles and it dawned onto him that this was the piece of paper he had originally written on all those years ago.

Verde's grip tightened as he spoke. "All this time, I've been wondering who you were, the person that could see right through me, and he turn out to be my enemy." Suddenly, the lightning arcobaleno started to laugh, one hand clutching the paper while the other appeared to be holding his head. He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose with his forefinger. "This is so amusing, so very amusing. I had always thought that you were a little dull, but now that I've found out the truth, of _who_ you really are, everything has changed. This is so interesting! To think that this could happen, I didn't think it was possible!"

Tsuna watched the other from his spot on the ground before he reached over, lifting the baby up off the cement.

Verde immediately stopped laughing and turned serious at the abrupt contact. His voice was sharp, revealing that the mistrust was still there. "What are you doing?"

"I want to go into the shade. The sun's rays are starting to burn me. I'd like to remain in good condition for running when Hibari-san comes after me, you know." The sky guardian shuffled into a standing position so that he could get behind the stairs where they could hide away from the light. It was a lot cooler in the shade but it was better than being burned alive by the sun. Releasing his grasp on the baby, since he had been cradling the lightning arcobaleno against his chest, he placed him on the ground gently. Soon after, Tsuna leaned against the wall and stretched for a moment before sliding down to sit.

The green-haired baby sighed, pushing up his glasses once more, as if it was a habit, and stuffed the paper into his pocket. Staring for a little longer before speaking, he remembered the conversation they had shared in the past, the reason why Tsuna wanted him to show up. "Alright, since I'm here, you probably want that favor you asked for long ago, correct?"

Tsuna blinked and leaned over a little. "I'm surprised you actually remember that."

"So am I…" Verde muttered under his breath as if hiding something.

"Well…" Trailing off, the brunet didn't want to get into that subject right now. There were more important things he wanted to know about first. "We can do that later, right now, I believe you have some questions for me. And… I have some for you. We can switch back and forth if you like."

Verde looked a little surprised at the proposal and then he chuckled, grinning. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, so many things he wanted to find out. "Oh? Well then, I guess I can start." Flopping onto the ground, he folded his legs and arms, observing the other intently. This was the first time Tsuna had ever seen this specific arcobaleno sit normally and not in a chair or on some sort of machine. He had to suppress his chuckles from escaping. "How _did_ you get sent back in time?"

Tsuna, without delay, began explaining about the ten-year bazooka and the effects of getting shot with it. He went over what had happened, going into as much depth as possible about the malfunction of the machine. He had to admit, it was nice to get this stuff off his chest; he had desperately wanted to tell someone about it for the past few weeks.

Nodding to himself when the answer reached its end, Verde rubbed his chin, clearly listening and repeating the words in his mind. In all honesty, he had never bothered with traveling into the past before and now it sounded… interesting to him. He smirked.

"Alright, my turn. What happened to Reborn after I left?" Tsuna desperately wanted to ask this question, he _needed_ to know. Just what the hell was going on?

At this, the scientist laughed and shifted closer. "What happened? That's a great story! Reborn was _sulking_ , can you believe that?"

"He sulked?" The sky guardian raised an eyebrow at that, not entirely believing it. Reborn could actually sulk? It sounded impossible. His expression twisted skeptically at the words. "Really?"

"Yes, absolutely. He managed to hide it pretty well, but I could tell. He was upset with your disappearance. It was as if he was a different person and I was amused by the change. And Reborn continued to act like that even after weeks had passed by, but by then, no one really remembered you much, though Luce did ask now and then. Of course, when she asked, she would glance at Fong for a moment as if she was developing some sort of idea. Crazy woman." Verde shook his head at the mentioning. It hadn't been hard to figure out what she was planning, more obvious when he reflected over her words and the way she had pushed the brunet onto Fong's lap back then. Tsuna couldn't help but chuckle at that, he had kind of figured that might happen. "Anyway, the only thing that continued to remind me of our promise was this piece of paper, even when I forgot what you essentially looked like. Actually…" At this, Verde paused, rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache. He looked somewhat confused for a moment and Tsuna noticed this instantly.

Blinking his eyes curiously, the brunet leaned further in. He eyed the lightning arcobaleno in question and reached out to lightly touch his shoulder. Verde glanced up at the touch, not sure how to react to it but not minding it all that much.

Those dark green eyes stared straight into honey-colored ones. "You know, it's strange. I actually didn't remember you at all until just few minutes ago…"

That made Tsuna perk up. What did Verde mean by _that_?

Nodding to himself, Verde continued. "Quite honestly, I didn't remember anything about you but what was written on this paper and that I had someone to meet. But when I saw you standing there, saying my name and telling me about the promise we made, it was as if everything suddenly came back to me. The conversation I had with you long ago played out to me in my head in those few seconds, as if it had only happened moments before. It was as if that blankness over those times during and after your meeting cleared up. At first, I thought nothing of it, but now that I'm thinking back, I find a memory of mine very strange."

Tsuna remained as quiet as possible, his ears open. There were many thoughts running through his head but he pushed them back to listen.

"It occurred a few weeks after you came, during one of our regular meetings. It is also where my memory before this whole remembrance started. It wasn't a strange meeting to me, it appeared normal, but now with these new memories, it's the opposite. I didn't even… realize it until now." Verde had that questioning gaze in his eyes and he stared up at Tsuna as if the teen held all the answers. And somewhere in his heart, he knew that the boy did, however, his mind didn't always agree with his heart. "It was as if nothing had ever happened. I didn't even remember your name nor recognize it either. The only memory was about the piece of paper and yet, I couldn't match a face to it. Luce didn't mention you at all, which wasn't normal, and Reborn didn't look depressed like usual. Even Skull, who had started to worship you slightly since that day, appeared like nothing happened at all. It was as if you never existed."  
This made Tsuna blink in surprise and he wrapped his arms around his body. He zoned out for a moment to think when Verde paused. What did Verde mean? That something happened to make them all forget about him? And what? As he continued to think, he realized something. Did that mean that Reborn _didn't_ mean to forget about him? Tsuna's breath hitched at that, his heart clenching. There were so many questions running through his head, almost uncontrollably. He tightened his grasp, almost painfully, when he suddenly felt… cold. Even with all that, all those thoughts, one question had been solved. It was undeniable, he really _had_ been forgotten by the person he loved; though it hadn't been on purpose, it still had happened. His fingers clenched his clothes and through that to bruise his skin.

That explained everything to him; it made more sense to him, why Reborn didn't know what had happened… Now he understood. But how was he supposed to get Reborn to remember? Tsuna's chills got worse and he could feel his intuition going haywire at that.

How _was_ he supposed to get Reborn to remember? The hitman would never listen to him and never had. And he was certain that if he mentioned anything about the past, Reborn would either think he was crazy, tighten up his barriers, or would deny everything that had happened, something that would drive Tsuna to the edge. No matter how much he looked at it, it was… impossible. There was just no way to get Reborn to go through with it.

As Tsuna was suffering through his mental trauma, Verde examined the other carefully, eyes sharp as always. He had noticed the abrupt change in the brunet's attitude and it made him curious. There was something wrong with him and he wanted to know how and why it had happened. "What's wrong, Vongola?" As Verde asked that, he began to apprehend without a doubt that something was starting to unveil around him, some kind of secret that was beginning to fall apart. Both his mind and heart were now telling him that Tsuna had the answers. He was the key to everything. Still, Verde couldn't help but feel like he was missing something, something big, and he wanted to know.

"I feel… horrible…" The brunet whispered, tears starting to well up in his eyes. A single droplet slipped and slid down to his cheek before falling off his chin. A small damp spot appeared where it had landed on his shirt. Reaching upward with his hands, he tried to hide his face from Verde but he couldn't stop the tears from springing up. All the sadness he had felt from the moment he had arrived back home and found out about Reborn was escaping from him all at once. All his hidden feelings were out in the open where it could be easily seen.

"H-Hey…" The scientist was at a standstill, stunned by the sight, clueless on what to do. Not understanding what was going on, he watched as the brunet broke down before him. He didn't know how to comfort people, he hardly knew a thing about emotions. All he knew was about science and machinery – that was it.

For the first time, Verde felt powerless. He didn't know what to do so he just stood there, listening to the crying teenager. As the weeping continued, the lightning arcobaleno felt himself getting frustrated by the fact that he didn't understand anything about emotions.

But what was Tsuna crying about? That made Verde inquisitive.

"I-I'm s-sor-sorry… I'm not su-supposed t-to cry." Tsuna wailed, his body shaking, tears sliding down his cheeks uncontrollably. "I-I made a p-promise to my-myself a-after me-meeting Reborn t-to be st-strong, to be able to ha-handle all of this… B-But!" With that, the brunet broke down again, crying louder than before.

Doing the only thing he could think of, Verde placed his small hand on Tsuna's leg comfortingly, or at least attempted to.

The brunet hiccupped for a second, glancing down at the hand, his large eyes red and puffy. His tear-stained cheeks glittered and he shivered when the wind blew.

"Look, I honestly don't know what's going on but I'll… at least listen. I'll pose that as my question. What happened between you and Reborn during your time in the past?"  
Tsuna sniffed and before he realized it, he let it out. His feelings for his teacher, what had happened on the last day, everything about their relationship - all to the one person he never thought he would ever confide in. He spilled it all and only cried harder… but it felt good. All his stored up sentiments came flooding out and Verde just stood there, taking everything in. The little green-haired arcobaleno remained where he was, studying the teen carefully.

As Tsuna let out the last bits of his story, he slowly started to calm down. He was no longer crying and he felt a whole lot better. Sniffing a few times, he wiped his face with his right sleeve. "T-Thanks… for listening."

"It's… okay." Verde then sighed, pushing up his glasses for the umpteenth time. "I'm trying to comfort the person I tried to kill long ago. How ironic."

This comment made Tsuna chuckle. "I think everything about me defies logic, making my enemies turn into allies, time traveling, magical boxes, gun wielding babies. Maybe I should turn my life into a show." He started to laugh, his chest feeling much lighter than before, though he did sniffle here and there.

"I restate my statement about you from long ago. You're a strange kid." Verde pulled back his hand for a moment so that he could sit next to the other, leaning against the wall. "And, of course, here I am talking to you. But I'm cursed and strange to begin with anyway."

"Actually, about that. If you don't mind, I would like to ask for two favors. They kinda go together and I know you'll be pleased with one of them."

Verde snapped his head up and snorted. "Hold on, you said one."

Tsuna nodded, confirming that he very well knew. "But please just listen to me first. The first one is that I want you to help Vongola, well actually, I want you to work for and help _me_. I'll be honest, I sorta made that up on the spot. I didn't really have a plan but right now, I want to have you by my side. You can be Vongola's enemy for all I care but I want you as _my_ ally. You're the only one I can think of that can do what I want. Your main concern during that time is that I want you to find a way to turn the arcobaleno back into adults or at least shift from baby to adult and back." The sky guardian stated, donning a more serious expression though he was still wreaked from crying for so long. If anyone had looked at him while he was like this, with the exception of Verde, no one would have taken him seriously.

Verde inhaled sharply at that; he had never liked working under people. No, he hated it because they were always so demanding but… The lightning arcobaleno peered over at the brunet, who was still a mess, and released his breath. This might not be too bad… This could actually work to his advantage… Still… "And the second one?"

Tsuna blinked. "Actually, that was the second one, turning all of you back into adults."

This made the arcobaleno raise an eyebrow and then smirk. "That sounds more like one." Afterwards, he went quiet, thinking more about the favor. Ah, well, what's the harm in agreeing? Everything went for him, everything, and since Tsuna was most likely going to become Vongola Demico, it only brought more to his benefit. As he continued to stare, an idea suddenly appeared to him. He hummed to himself as he thought more on it and then grinned when he perfected it within seconds. Yes, _it_ would work. Verde really wanted Reborn to show his true self, that hidden anger and jealousy that was buried deep underneath his mask and with this new idea, it just might work. "Fine, I'll do it. It works to my advantage either way. But I must request that in three days, I need you to walk down Ester Street. There I will kidnap you to my base."

"Now, wait one moment. K-Kidnap?" Tsuna paled at the thought, looking at the green-haired baby skeptically. "You know that that's not going to go well, right? My friends won't like that and Reborn would…" He found himself pausing as it came to him. "Reborn…"

Verde huffed, folding his arms, glad that the brunet could think. "Don't worry, I can promise that nothing will happen to you. We can finish our conversation at my base with a cup of tea. Are you good at making tea? I can't say that I am. No matter what I build, the tea it makes doesn't taste so good."

Tsuna found himself snickering at that, finding it odd that he was at such ease with an ex-enemy and in such a short amount of time too. "I think I can do that." He glanced down at his watch and found that school was about to let out in another hour. Had time really flown by that fast? "Shoot, I better get going. My friends are probably worried about me since I disappeared during class and it won't take long before Reborn finds out about it." He stood up, almost panicking, but was stopped by a small hand tugging on his pants. Peering down, Tsuna could see that Verde was pointing towards something on his face.

"You'll need to clean up first. He'll be suspicious if you look like that."

The brunet reached up to wipe his eyes again with his sleeves, finding his cheeks still wet with tears. He nodded, muttering a 'thank you' under his breath and went towards the door. Holding it open for a second, he glanced towards Verde, wondering if he was going to follow. The scientist, noticing the look, shook his head and motioned for him to leave first. Nodding again, Tsuna made his way down the stairs and went towards the nearest bathroom on the top floor to clean up his face.

As he peered into the mirror, he couldn't help but wince at the sight; his eyes were all puffy and red, and his cheeks were still overrun with tears. These were all visible in his reflection and if he could see it, then anyone could too. He quickly turned on the faucet and splashed some water onto his face, washing it, before glancing back up to stare at his dripping image. The cold water felt great against his skin.

While staring at his reflection, he began to build his inner self back up. Tsuna knew he had to hold himself together to prevent anymore tears from forming.

After all, he had really loved Reborn and still did. But Reborn didn't remember.

Life really liked to be cruel to him, doesn't it?

He had finally gotten what he wanted but it was all snatched away from him. Tsuna closed his eyes, trying to push all his thoughts on the subject away, and splashed some more water onto his face. Reaching for the paper towels, he dried himself off. The parts of his bangs that were still wet stuck to his face and he anticipated that they would be dry by the time he got back. The redness in his eyes was dying down though it still looked slightly bloodshot. Tsuna just hoped that Reborn wouldn't pop out of nowhere and find him like this. He couldn't bear being questioned by him, not yet. He still needed more time to calm himself down, some more time to straighten out his emotions.

Tsuna backed away from the sink and left the bathroom, the door closing behind him.

* * *

Reborn, during the time his student was at school, could generally be found sipping quietly on the espresso Nana would make for him or wandering the town. It was an unusually quiet time, a luxury he didn't generally have since everyone always made so much noise when they were around. Lambo and I-Pin would normally be outside where they couldn't disturb the hitman at all. Reborn would usually sit in his small chair on top of Tsuna's desk and look outside through the window to view the world as it passed on by.

It was really a peaceful day.

But there was a sinking feeling within him that told him that something bad was going to happen today, something he wasn't going to be happy about. He didn't know why, perhaps it was a gut feeling. 'No matter, those idiots can handle anything that comes their way…'

Just as he thought that, he heard a group of people running down the street in his direction. He could tell by how fast the footsteps were going that something _was_ definitely wrong.

He sat up from his spot just as the front door to the house slammed open and the footsteps continued to make their way closer to his area. The door to Tsuna's bedroom crashed open and standing there was Gokudera and Yamamoto, both clearly panicking about something.

"Reborn-san!" The storm guardian huffed, eyes filled with fear. "Jyuudaime… Jyuudaime has been!" Before Gokudera could finish, he fell to the ground and punched it, muttering strange words under his breath, his gasping almost sounding like crying.

Reborn felt a shiver run down his spine.

Yamamoto took over, seeing as the other couldn't. "Kid, Tsuna was taken…"

"What?" The baby's eyes grew wide in alarm and he jumped from his spot to the table, moving closer. He looked positively angry, his espresso left forgotten next to his seat. "What happened? Tell me from the beginning!"

Yamamoto slowly nodded his head and sat down on the floor. He was shaky and stared down at the table as if afraid to look at the arcobaleno. He clenched his fingers as he spoke. "We were walking home from school like usual when a black car pulled up next to Tsuna, who had been ahead of us at the time. A couple of men ran out, grabbed Tsuna, and pulled him into the car. We tried to fight back but they threatened that if we did anything, they would blow up the car with Tsuna in it… We… We couldn't do anything but before they left, they gave us this…" The rain guardian reached into his pocket, retrieved a piece of paper, and handed it straight over to Reborn. His hand continued to shake the entire time. "They told us to take it to you. We… I looked at it but didn't know what to make of it. It's in Italian, from what Hayato told me."

Reborn's black eyes scanned the paper, reading the foreign words quietly to himself.

" _Reborn,_

_It's been a while, hasn't it? But you know, I've just recently remembered something that occurred ten years ago before this whole arcobaleno business came about. So I've decided to, how to say it, test it out. But to do so, I had to take something precious from you from that time long ago. I hope you remember this person. Perhaps if you find out who and what I mean then maybe I might be… kind enough to give Vongola back to you unharmed. Until then, find me if you can._

_Verde_."

"Reborn-san…" Gokudera whispered, eyes watching the baby curiously, not sure what was going to happen next. He continued to silently curse himself from within, scolding himself for allowing this to happen.

The little fingers that clutched the paper shook and almost ripped the cursed thing in half before Reborn controlled his reactions. He didn't get it. He didn't get what Verde meant. What did he mean by precious? There had been no one precious to him ten years ago. Reborn tried to remember but nothing came up. His mind was empty.

He couldn't remember at all.


	18. Base

Tsuna felt uncomfortable at this very moment. There were multiple reasons for that feeling. It might be due to the large men that were surrounding him or the fact that he had just allowed himself to get kidnapped or… No, it was definitely the men that were staring down at him with detesting glares who looked physically strong enough to snap him in half like a twig. Yeah, definitely them.

He was currently squished between two men in a medium-sized black car, facing towards another row of seats in front of him that were turned back to face his own. He couldn't really see the driver in front since there was a black divider that was blocking all sight to the front area of the vehicle. Tsuna didn't even try to look outside, not really sure how these men were going to react to him trying to stretch his neck to take a glimpse at the surrounding area. They were already watching his every move, as if waiting for him to try something so that they had an excuse to rip his head off. It was so… unnerving. Extremely so…

"Looks like you followed through with my plan." Verde was on the other side of the car, taking up almost nothing of the seat since he was so small. Not even the buckle would fit around him. What was unfair was that he got two seats to himself while Tsuna himself was getting compressed by two bulky men; the third seat on Verde's side was taken by another bodyguard. "I was right in thinking that those guardians of yours wouldn't attack if they were threatened with your safety. It was so very obvious."

Tsuna watched as the green-haired arcobaleno pushed the glasses on his nose up higher, looking proud of himself. He had to admit, it was a great accomplishment to pull such a stunt and get away with it. Still, he ignored that thought as his awkwardness was tripling in magnitude; those men were really wearing down his patience, and no longer scared him. He felt like he was going to snap at any second and he knew that if he did, it wasn't going to end pretty. Normally, he would _never_ act like that but right now, he didn't really care. "Um… Verde, if you don't mind, can I sit over there with you?" Immediately feeling the eyes glowering straight at him, he couldn't conceal his flinch and quietly sighed to himself. The sky guardian could just feel all the distrustfulness in the air, thick enough to cut through with a knife if he had one, but that probably wouldn't have been the best thing to do in his situation.

Verde noticed what was going on immediately after Tsuna spoke. It wasn't hard to tell that the brunet was distressed with what his hired bodyguards were doing and he didn't blame the boy. Those men were really staring Tsuna down. Standing up, the arcobaleno made his way to the middle seat, pushing his glasses up once more. "Of course. Here, sit next to me."

'Thank goodness.' Tsuna exhaled in relief, quickly shifting seats, and settled as close as possible to the side of the car. He could finally relax and knew that this was so much more comfortable. His backpack was on the ground with his school stuff still inside and even his fighting equipment was there, contacts, gloves, and headphones. Even with the change in seating, the bodyguards still kept a stern eye on him and weren't very happy with the new arrangement, but what could they say to their paying boss who wanted the brunet there. Glancing outside, Tsuna noticed that they were no longer in his neighborhood but somewhere in the city, passing by people who were on the streets. Other cars were on the road and it appeared like theirs easily blended in with the rest through the reflection of windows, looking like any other car out there. 'I wonder how the others are going to react to this. I hope Gokudera and Yamamoto aren't panicking too badly…'

His face fell at that thought; he could see his reflection, staring back at him, which just made things worse. Tsuna knew full well that they were going to panic; they were his friends after all. He just hoped they would forgive him after this incident. 'It's for the best, after all.' He was only startled out of his thoughts when he felt something land on his lap, bringing his attention away from the tinted window. Glancing down, he spotted Verde settling against his stomach, nudging closer to him and using him as a cushion. He raised an eyebrow at the arcobaleno's strange actions. "Verde, what are you doing?"

A snort came from the baby and he continued to do whatever he was doing. "Who knows? I'm not entirely sure right now. I don't really know what _you're_ thinking about right now either, but listen, I'm on your side, nothing bad will happen to you. I'll be by your side even when Reborn comes breaking in with his guns blazing."

Tsuna couldn't help but smile at that, chuckling at the expression Verde had used. "Wow, never thought I would hear that from you."

"Hush." Lightly elbowing the teen in the stomach, Verde leaned further back, liking this position. It was kinda… nice. It had been a long time since he'd had an actual human to connect to, someone who wasn't cold and made of metal.

Suddenly, Tsuna made a face, scrunching up his nose, deciding to say something funny. "Hey, don't touch my fat."

Verde raised an eyebrow at that, not really sure why the other had said such a thing but went along with it. "What fat? You're all skin and bones. Maybe you should eat more." To emphasize his point, the green-haired scientist poked the brunet's stomach and true to what he had said, there wasn't much fat at all.

Tsuna pouted at that, playfully flicking Verde's hand away, and then crossed his arms. "Hey, don't touch…"

Before long, he had started to laugh, breaking out into a large grin despite the situation he was in. For some odd reason, he had found their bickering funny and it really broke the tense atmosphere in the car. Verde was smirking, trying to prevent himself from doing the same. The bodyguards, on the other hand, were left clueless at the scene of their boss smiling and the person they had kidnapped laughing so freely as if nothing was wrong. Of course, it wasn't their purpose to question and they remained quiet.

"Well, we'll be arriving outside my base shortly. Knowing Reborn, it won't take long before he finds out where I'm hiding. I'd give him a day or two, maybe more depending on how long it takes to gather everyone together." Verde spoke once the teen had calmed down, only snickering occasionally. When he looked outside, they were no longer in the city and but in some wooded area, probably in the mountains that were near the town. "He'll also be gathering most of the arcobaleno to help him and I wouldn't be surprised if other Families came in to help as well."

As he said that, the car hit a bump on the road and his small body bounced up a little from the jump. Instantly wrapping his arms around Verde, Tsuna secured the other against his body and kept him still when other bumps came since they no longer on flat road. The bodyguards tensed at that but didn't do anything, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. They had absolutely no trust in the teen at all. Verde tilted his head at Tsuna's reaction but didn't push away. Instead, he found himself relaxing into the hold. He couldn't find it in himself to dislike it and really, as an alternative, it was quite pleasant.

Tsuna smiled at the sight of Verde shifting closer to him and tightened his grip slightly. "I see. Well, it looks like I'll be temporally living with you until then. I'll be in your care."

"Yes, you will. I'll show you around my place when we arrive."

Tsuna closed his eyes for a moment, his lips curving up, and momentarily glanced outside at the moving world. Today was the start of something new, he just knew it.

* * *

One hour later, Tsuna and Verde exited the car in the middle of nowhere. The brunet held the other in his arms, cradling the baby carefully in his grasp, and had his backpack strap resting over one shoulder. Verde, meanwhile, handed over some cash to the bodyguards and driver, telling them to scat and the usual things like not to tell anyone where they had dropped them off. When they drove off, the two were left in the same spot, listening to the retreating car going over the bumpy road and to the wind that was blowing gently against their bodies.

"So where are we?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask, looking around for anything that might show signs of the base, but saw nothing. The entire place was nothing more than trees and more trees. He readjusted his backpack strap to keep it from sliding off his shoulder and peered down at the baby who seemed to have gained a calculating glint in his eyes as he watched the car disappear.

"We're on the outskirts of my base. We'll have to walk the rest of the way to get to the entrance. I don't want anyone, not even them, to know the exact location of it, besides you, of course." Verde pointed off towards a direction and Tsuna had no choice but to comply, heading off. The teen watched his steps, not wanting to trip over anything, and made his way around trees and tall plants. "It's too dangerous to have them bring us all the way. People like them can easily betray their previous buyers if it earns them more money. I'm quite certain that when they hear that the Tenth Vongola heir has been kidnapped by me, they'll most likely rat me out unless they are too scared to mention that they were the ones that did the job. Most of the time, I end up killing them by blowing up the car but that's not going to work for what I'm planning, after all, I want Reborn to find us."

Tsuna had no comment on the harshness of that statement and just muttered an "Oh…" under his breath. He tightened his grip on Verde for a moment, wondering if all hired people like them or hirers like Verde did such things. The green-haired arcobaleno raised an eyebrow at the sudden grip but didn't say anything, not exactly sure what was going on in the other's head. Although he did have a faint suspicion on what Tsuna's thoughts were, he didn't want to act on them, just in case.

"Anyway, it'll take about a thirty minute walk to get there. Just keep moving in the direction I tell you."

"Alright." The brunet followed the hidden path, his footsteps crunching soundly on the grass below. Looking up, he noticed that the clouds above were gathering and darkening in color. The sun was starting to set in the distance and the wind was picking up greatly. His hair fluttered in the breeze and he listened to the leaves rustling wildly around him. The trip was mostly quiet between them and it was only when they arrived that the silence finally broke.

"We're here." Verde stated, edging out of Tsuna's grip, and hopping down to the ground, walking over to a certain spot. Observing the area, the brunet saw nothing in particular about it. It looked like everywhere else, trees, and endless amount of grass. As the arcobaleno stepped across the empty area, he stopped suddenly at a random tree and pressed his hand against it. Immediately, his hand sunk in and there was a click as if some button had been pressed. Tsuna leaned over from his spot, catching sight of some machinery that was inside the hole, and when Verde retracted his hand, he could now see the button that was there. As the sky guardian moved closer to the baby, the ground shook for a second before a door opened up in the ground, small but enough to at least fit him through. Verde rotated back to the brunet, making his way to the entrance. "You're actually the first person to enter into this base. No one else has before. You should be honored."

"Really? That sounds kinda cool." Tsuna couldn't stop the grin from appearing on his face and knelt down, getting closer to the opening. His eyes peered in but all he could see was darkness. He gazed back at Verde curiously. "So how is this going to work?"

"Just jump right in. There's nothing to worry about, I've placed a cushion at the bottom. Normally I would have a device rise up so I can step on it but you're too heavy for that so I had to detach it. I'll be falling with you, though I need you to go first. I'm afraid that you're bigger in size compared to me; I'd hate to know what would happen if you were to fall on top of me."

Unable to stop himself, Tsuna found himself laughing, just knowing that Verde was imagining his untimely death if even if his facial expressions weren't saying anything. He would love to know what Verde was actually thinking at this very moment. If only he could read minds. "So I just have to fall in, right?" A nod from the other confirmed what he had to do and slowly, Tsuna slipped himself in, hanging onto the side. For a moment, he thought that this might end badly, but his intuition wasn't telling him that anything was wrong so he decided that it was best to trust it as usual. His arms were bracing his weight against the ground while the rest of his body was inside the hole, about to drop down in a few moments. His fingers were digging into the grass and dirt, using it to help keep himself up, and his head was at the same level as the arcobaleno. "Well, here goes."

Letting go, he found himself falling into obscurity and he watched as Verde's face got smaller and smaller as he fell. Eventually during the fall, he twisted around to see if anything was happening below him but all he saw was absolute darkness. He didn't even know if he had closed his eyes or not since it was impossible to tell and he felt the air blasting against his body until he landed on something soft. A small squeak escaped his lips in surprise and he could feel his body bouncing up from whatever he had landed on. When he stopped moving, he peered up to where he could see a pinprick of light from the hole and Verde's head peering in. Tsuna realized he had fallen quite a distance and rolled away, moving about three feet from his spot. Gripping whatever he had landed on, he found it incredibly soft but he couldn't figure it out what it was; there was no light after all. And damn, he was curious as hell. Turning back to the baby above, he called out. "Alright, I'm out of the way. You can come down now."

Verde nodded in compliance and finally jumped in, the door above him closing as he did so, taking away what little light they had, which wasn't much. Tsuna couldn't see anything but he heard the scientist grunting when he landed and the force of the impact transferred through the material to him. They started a small game of 'Where are you? Over here' in order to locate and maneuver towards each other. Eventually, Tsuna grabbed onto Verde's small body and pulled him close to his own, getting the lightning arcobaleno to settle onto his shoulders. Following the baby's muttered directions, he crawled over the material until he reached the hard cold ground that was underneath and stood up.

"See that light there?" Verde spoke from the side, close to Tsuna's right ear. The brunet glanced around in the darkness and spotted that little blinking red light. "Go towards it, there's a door next to it." Beginning the trek over there, Tsuna shuffled his feet, not entirely sure what was before him but when they got close enough, the door opened, letting the laboratory light that was behind it flood into the darkness. For a split second, Tsuna was blinded, squeezing his eyes close until he adjusted to the brightness.

Carefully, he blinked, and as the light filtered out, he fluttered his eyes a couple more times until he could see clearly. Machinery of all kinds was in the single hallway with many of them glowing with strange and colorful lights. He was tempted to reach out and touch a couple but was stopped by the glares from Verde, who was obviously warning him from doing so. There were some lights at the end of the hallway and when he peered at them more closely, he noticed that there was another door. Following the scientist's commands once more, he made his way towards it, staring at any object that caught his interest. There were no words to describe what he was seeing, none at all. How could he? He didn't even know what any of these machines did in the first place nor could he take a guess of what exactly he was seeing either.

As the door opened up, they entered another hallway, this one splitting into three. Tsuna turned his head from side to side, noticing that there was a metal encasing on the wall, hiding anything that was behind it. And there was one more thing that was incredibly obvious to him - the ceiling of the base was low, _very_ low. For once, he counted himself lucky that he was as short as he was, not that he'll ever admit it, since the ceiling was just a few inches higher than his hair. If he jumped, he would have bumped his head against the ceiling, and if he was too tall, he would have been bent over the entire time. This place was definitely built for Verde's small size.

The green-haired scientist led him through the numerous hallways and pointed out rooms along the way; everything was small and compact. It wasn't a hard place to navigate through at all and at the very back corner of the whole place was a lone room. Going inside, Tsuna noticed that there was a large desk with multiple screens placed in front of it, about four on each side with two large ones in the middle. A small chair was right in front of it and Verde hopped off him, strolling over to that spot, and sat down. He immediately began clicking on some buttons to check up on things, with random script appearing across the screens.

Tsuna watched as words flashed by but he didn't get any of it, and he eventually sighed and headed closer. He pulled up a chair that happened to be close by and, luckily for him, it was big enough to fit his weight and size. As he continued to remain quiet, he perceived a little bit of movement out of the corner of his eye and turned towards it, alert and ready for action. Instead of an enemy, he saw a large green alligator coming forward, circling around its master before lying down underneath the chair. The brunet couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that.

"Now then." Verde stated, turning back to the teen. "Since we're going to be together for a while, I'd like to try that tea of yours."

Chuckling, Tsuna stood up, leaving his school bag on the chair. "Alright, where's the stuff?"

"It's in the kitchen area. Down the hallway and in the room on your first right."

The brunet nodded and went to work, leaving the room.

* * *

Verde quietly sipped on his tea, finding it most heavenly. He couldn't help but sigh at the calming sensation it brought to his body. He was normally so uptight, frantically working on so many projects that he wouldn't be surprised if one day he fell into madness. No, he was quite certain that he was already on his way… But right now, he was calm, like the ocean during the night with its waves ebbing back and forth gently. 'I guess that's why Fong likes tea so much…' Taking another sip, he looked over to his empty plate that was placed on the side of the table, away from his keyboard. While Tsuna had been making tea, the brunet had also cooked some dinner since it was starting to get late. The whole car ride and walk had taken so long that before either of them had known it, it was already nighttime. Verde had to admit, the food was delicious and he couldn't wait for morning to have breakfast. It really had been such a long time since he'd had normal contact with people or even a home cooked meal. He knew he was repeating that phrase too much but it was the truth. 'Looks like Vongola… no, _Tsunayoshi_ has been influencing me more than I thought.'

Clicking open a window in the one of smaller screens, he took a look outside to check the surrounding area. It was as dark as he suspected and there was rain pouring down, quite heavily too, enough to make everything look like a blur on the monitor. 'Looks like our tracks today are going to get covered. It'll take Reborn much longer to find my place now.' He pressed a couple more keys, flipping through his cameras, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Relaxing, he took another sip of his tea, feeling the hot liquid run down his throat. It was so quiet…

'Wait… Quiet?' Verde blinked at that, remembering that he had a guest here, and rotated his chair to look behind him. A small smile graced his lips at the sight before him. His pet made a muffled sound at the movement but remained where it was. At another desk he had moved into the room, Tsuna's upper body was sprawled across the top, his head nestled into his arms, dead to the world around him. His hair was scattered over his sleeves and his school material had shifted to the side. His right hand was still holding onto his pen, probably having fallen asleep while writing. Shaking his head, Verde jumped off his seat and made his way over to the sleeping brunet. His pet followed right behind him and lifted up its tail so that the arcobaleno could get on top of the desk without much trouble. Stepping over papers and books, the scientist maneuvered himself in front Tsuna and shook the teen with his small hands. "Tsunayoshi, wake up. If you're going to fall asleep, go do it in a better place."

There was some mumbling and the brunet buried his face deeper into his arms, trying to shift away from the cold hands. He twitched for a moment before going still again. Verde shook his head, pushing his glasses further up his nose. He gave the teen another shake, harder this time, and managed to get better results. Two sleepy honey-colored orbs opened up and peered into Verde's emerald–colored ones, staring for a minute or two before moving. Sitting up slightly, Tsuna yawned, stretching his body against the chair, hearing some of his back bones crack since he had been in an uncomfortable position for too long. Even afterwards, he still looked exhausted and barely hung onto consciousness. But to those around him, even Verde, the action still looked cute and extremely adorable, there was no denying it.

"Tsunayoshi, I don't really have a place for you to stay so you'll have to sleep in my room. Come on, you can make it there." Verde gave a nudge to Tsuna to get him moving and jumped up onto the brunet's shoulder, pulling at his ear to keep him awake.

"Ow, ow, stop that, Verde. That hurts." Pouting, Tsuna got up from his seat, inching towards the door. He wasn't even aware of the sudden name change, right now more concerned about the pains in his body. The alligator followed behind, swishing its tail as it moved.

"Well, you need to stay awake. I surmise that you could fall asleep while standing at any moment now." Lightly pinching Tsuna's cheek, Verde noticed that the skin around his fingers was turning red. The brunet grumbled under his breath, following the route to Verde's room from the directions. He hadn't really gotten a full tour of the place but he doubted there was really anything worthwhile to see. Letting the metal door swing open, he took notice of the packed bedroom that was littered with bottles and books. The only smell in the room was that of leather and Tsuna guessed that it was coming from the books and journals that were stacked up to the ceiling. Tsuna stared at the place, only vaguely noticing the bed that was in the corner, covered with papers.

"Wow… Your messiness surpasses my own and that's saying something." Tsuna commented, looking over the place once more. "I mean, seriously, I'm standing on top of your books - your floor is completely covered. At least those bottles of yours are far away. Don't even want to know what's inside of them." He headed towards the bed, moving stuff off and stacking it some distance away so that if he moved in his sleep, he wouldn't hit it.

Verde grumbled at the comment but couldn't really make a retort back. What was there to say in the first place? It was all true. Settling down onto the bed, Tsuna pulled his legs up after taking off his shoes and rested his head on the pillow. Verde stood at the side, watching the brunet start to drift off once more. His pet curled up on the ground, maneuvering around books and bending over the piles.

The brunet was still awake and talking, gripping the bed sheets below his body. "You know, I never really liked you very much."

Perking up, the green-haired scientist glanced over, curiosity written all over his face. He was standing on the bed right in front of Tsuna's face, his half-lidded eyes staring.

"There are reasons for that and good ones too. In the beginning, you tried to assassinate me with those invisible suits and then tried to kill off the other arcobaleno. You even hurt Lambo. Those are all things I couldn't forgive you for and I still can't, to be honest." Tsuna muttered quietly, knowing he had Verde's full attention.

For a moment, the scientist flinched, feeling guilt welling inside of him, before shoving it down. He is a scientist; he would do whatever it took to get his experiments right even if it meant taking people out, permanently. But still… Verde turned away for a moment, deep in thought. When hearing it from Tsuna, he unexpectedly felt really bad for many of the things he had done. However, he couldn't understand why he was feeling that all of a sudden...

Tsuna closed his eyes, the sleepiness coming back to him. He nestled into his pillow, not bothering with the blankets and laid on his side, his back against the metal wall. "But right now, I can tolerate you. And slowly, I'm starting to like you. But please don't harm the others again. There are only eight of you, arcobaleno. You're all one of a kind and separate from everyone else. You're different but if anything were to happen to the others, you'll be all alone, you know."

Verde's eyes drooped downward for a moment as he listened, leaning closer since Tsuna's voice was getting lower, turning into mere whispers. It was true, he would be the only one of their kind left, left to watch as the world changed around them, left behind to observe as people were born and grew old before his very eyes. He highly doubted he'd be able to tolerate such solitude. No… most likely, he'd be dead by then.

"I think… being alone is the saddest thing ever. I don't know much about the curse or what you've all been through since that time I visited in the past. But still, even with all that, being alone… hurts." Tsuna's eyes closed shut, finally drifting off into slumber, relaxing into the bed. Verde remained where he was standing and slowly reached out to touch the teen's warm cheek with his fingers. The heat that radiated off it felt like it was burning him, as if he was touching a stove that had been warmed.

Before he realized it, he was reclining against the brunet's stomach. His glasses were placed aside and he stared at the ceiling through his blurry vision before closed his eyes, leaning further into the warmth. He snapped his fingers to shut the lights off. It was so peaceful and he relaxed, listening only to Tsuna's soft breathing and the beating of his heart. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, one hand on his stomach and head tilted to the side. His pet shuffled a little then snorted as it looked at its master and the brunet. When its head lowered, it decided that sleep was the best thing for now.

* * *

Gathering people for Tsuna's rescue was harder than Reborn thought. He easily recruited most of the guardians except for Hibari (Mukuro not included) but that was as far as he got. He couldn't tell Vongola that their heir had been kidnapped; that would create much unnecessary trouble, especially if the Varia found out what had happened. He had alerted some of the closest people to him that he could trust, like the Cavallone's head, Dino, and most of his fellow arcobaleno. However, there was a problem. He had to wait for the reinforcements to arrive. He knew that they couldn't possibly appear here so fast, they needed to take an airplane and with that, he needed to wait. Something he wasn't entirely happy about.

'The more time he's with Verde…' Reborn ground his teeth together, not wanting to think of the outcome. Anything could happen and many of those things weren't pleasant. He didn't want to think of it, he couldn't. His black eyes glanced over the group that was in front of him, the guardians that were supposed to protect Tsuna.

Yamamoto was trying to cheer up the group but the tone of his voice obviously indicated that he was worried sick about his dear friend. Gokudera was cursing violently and was sticking cigarette after cigarette into his mouth, lighting each one in succession. Eventually, he just flicked the lighter on and off, eyeing the flame. The clicking sounds were annoying but Reborn did not stop the silver-haired teen since it was the best way for him to cope with what had happened. Chrome was silent in her corner, not really saying anything, like usual, while Ryohei was scratching the side of his head in confusion. He hadn't really been informed on what had happened yet. Reborn knew that he'd have to do that later. Meanwhile, Lambo was running around and laughing obnoxiously as he did every day, not really knowing what was going on like Ryohei. The hitman was definitely going to send the brat back to Nana. The sun arcobaleno didn't want him here; it wasn't making things any better.

His eyes stared once more at the message Verde had written and reread it for the umpteenth time and yet, he didn't get what it meant. Everything was so confusing. Colonello and Skull were nearby, having come immediately, and were arguing with each other. In the end, the cloud arcobaleno was beaten up as usual before he got up and complained about his treatment. Right now, Reborn didn't feel like kicking the other arcobaleno, his mind concentrating solely on the words that seemed to laugh at him.

Luckily for him, Nana was easy to convince about her son's sudden disappearance, believing him when he stated that Tsuna was currently staying over at a friend's house and wouldn't be back for while. She had taken it with a smile and went off to make dinner for the other kids.

"Hey, Reborn." The hitman snapped his head up to look over at Colonello, who was sitting on a table, his weapon not with him. "Verde is going to be expecting us, kora. There's no telling what he's planning. Not only that, we haven't been able to locate his hiding place yet and this rain is covering up any tracks that he might have made today, kora." The blond glanced over to the window, watching the storm that was still continuing. It was dark outside, night right now, and the window was blurry from all the water that was trailing down the glass. The winds had picked up, blowing rapidly and dangerously, forebodingly.

Reborn glanced down at his feet, wondering how this was going to work. They were at a disadvantage from the very start. Still, he stared at the note, his mind grasping for an answer. He had shown it to the others that were around him during those times ten years ago but they too hadn't known what it was talking about. That left him with nothing, no answer at all. He clenched his fingers in frustration.

'Tsuna…'


	19. Shift

Tsuna yawned, stretching his tired body, and brought out his hands before him. Slowly opening his honey-colored eyes, the brunet peered around the room, recognizing it from last night - though it was harder to see since the lights were off. Still, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could tell that everything was as messy as it had been before he gone to bed. Out of the disorganized bedroom, at least the bed was comfortable. For a while when he had first arrived inside, he had thought he was going to sleep on top of some books or have to make a improvised bed out of something. After all, Verde didn't really need one, since all he needed was a large pillow, and that was it. He was small enough to nap on one with ease.

Sitting up slightly, Tsuna took a better look of the room, hoping to find some kind of clock or time-keeping device, yet didn't find anything. All he saw was piles upon piles of stacked books in the darkness, and if he didn't know better, they appeared to be infinite in the way it kept going into the shadows. Shaking his head, he peered down at his wrist, pulling back his sleeve to see his watch. Of course, since it was dark, he couldn't read the numbers until he pressed the nightlight with a small beeping sound going off. What he saw made him grumble. It was only six o'clock, way too early for him to be getting up. School didn't even start that early in the morning either and neither Reborn or his mom woke him up until an hour or so later. Grumbling under his breath, he flopped back down onto the bed, burying his face into the pillow. He was about to fall back asleep when he felt something nudge into his side.

'What the… Must be a book.' Tsuna cautiously moved, making sure to keep whatever it was from falling down, and looked over. What he saw made him smile and the sky guardian had to hold in his giggles. Verde was leaning against his body, fast asleep, glasses at the side, and looked quite peaceful. Tsuna finally chuckled quietly, finding this cute, and leaned over the edge of the bed to see Verde's pet alligator lying there, sleeping as well. 'Well, what do you know…?' Shifting a bit, Tsuna reached down and carefully lifted the baby from his spot, immensely careful not to wake him up. Luckily for him, Verde wasn't a fighter or an assassin like the others, and didn't stir at his touch. Instead, the green-haired Arcobaleno seemed to move closer to his skin, as if searching for warmth, and gripped onto him.

The brunet managed to twist his body into a more comfortable position, no longer wanting to lie on his side, and let his back rest against the mattress. His muscles seemed to unwind at the shift of arrangement, and he stared up at the blank ceiling for a second, seeing that it too was made of metal.

Soon after that observation, Tsuna placed Verde against his chest and managed to grab the baby's glasses, locating them to a better place in case they got crushed if one of them moved during their sleep. He was certain that Verde wouldn't be very happy if that were to happen. Sighing, Tsuna closed his eyes for a moment, getting his body to relax before glancing back over to the scientist. Verde, had by now, prodded around his new spot, getting himself back into a comfortable position then went still as if all was right.

'Never thought I would have Verde sleeping on me. Actually, I think he's the second Arcobaleno to do so.' Tsuna watched the peaceful expression on Verde's face in the darkness, and after a while, he looked away. 'Well, I better catch some extra sleep. Never know what might happen later on.' Within that in mind, he found himself drifting off, falling back into obscurity.

"Hmm…?" For some odd reason, Verde felt warm… really warm, actually. And he found himself lying on his side - if Verde wasn't mistaken, he was in a sitting position before he dozed off. The scientist squeezed his eyes together, trying to get himself to wake up but it was harder than he thought, since it was so comfortable. Eventually, he succeeded in opening his eyes to see what was going on. Immediately he noticed that his face was closer to Tsuna's face than he remembered, and it made him pause for a moment in surprise. Even with this new renovation, he didn't budge from his spot. His small body was wrapped around Tsuna's arms, which kept him close, and he could smell the soft scent of cinnamon and vanilla coming from the hair, skin, and clothes. 'Was I moved during the night? Why didn't I wake up?'

Grumbling for being completely unaware of the change, Verde stared at the sleeping face and slightly shifted in the grasp, succeeding in loosening Tsuna's somewhat vice-like hold. When he managed to get into a better position, he stopped all movement and went still in the grasp. He couldn't really will himself to move anymore - it was just too nice and warm. Looking around his room, he glanced down at his tiny watch for the time, and found it only eight in the morning. He reached to the bridge of his nose to push his glasses up, only to remember that they were no longer on his face. Glancing towards them, he questioned what to do next. 'Should I get up? I do need to check the surrounding area to see if Reborn has arrived, though, he shouldn't be able to do so yet since I didn't leave much for him to search me with. No matter how good he is, he can't find me on nothing.'

He didn't get to think very long as Tsuna started to stir from his sleep, making a soft sound from the back of his throat and shifted in his position. He raised a hand up to touch his face, rubbing one eye, before the hand fell to the side of his head. Slowly, those honey-colored orbs peaked through, staring up at the ceiling in a sleepy daze, before breaking out into a yawn, stretching in his position. Verde jumped out of the grasp and got onto the stack of books to pick up his glasses so he could watch the other slowly wake up. Tsuna moved around a little more before rolling onto his side and catching sight of the other. Blinking his eyes to clear up his vision, Tsuna gave a smile. "Good morning, Verde."

"Morning, I see you're finally awake," the lightning Arcobaleno huffed, hopping off the stack of books and went back to Tsuna's side to turn on the lights. His hands were inside his pockets, and he pushed his glasses up higher on his nose - which was definitely a habit now. "Why did you move me during the night?"

At that comment, Tsuna turned away, looking red in the face, and scratched the side of his cheek. "Um… Well… I was going to move a bit and I saw that you were using me as a pillow. I didn't want to wake you up so I just… moved you. S-Sorry about that. Are you mad?"

Verde shook his head and turned away, jumping down on top of his pet before doing another one to reach the books that were stacked along the floor. "No, it's alright. I was just curious." He slowly made his way towards the front door, before rotating around to look at the other. Tsuna still sat on the bed, staring at him in confusion. The scientist snorted. "Well, are you coming? I was hoping you'd make breakfast, since I highly doubt you'd like to try my cooking."

Tsuna blanched and rapidly nodded his head, knowing that it was true. He had a strong gut feeling that anything Verde made... wouldn't turn out so well. He was actually afraid of trying any creation Verde produced. Standing up and making his way over, he leaned down to pick the baby up, balancing him on his shoulder. The door opened up and they exited the room, with the alligator right behind.

When they were about to reach the kitchen, the animal moved away, heading towards another direction. Tsuna questioned the action for a moment, but not for long, as he had other things to do. His cooking skilled was decent, having learned a few things from his mom, but the brunet never really had the chance to put it to use, since she always did the work. What could he say? She would nudge him out of the way even when he tried to help.

Now that Tsuna thought about it, Verde was probably the only one to ever try his cooking. Even when trying to cook in the future, it didn't end well - simply because of his friends. He was so concerned about them, at that time, that he really didn't really have much of a chance to make a proper meal. And if he did have a chance, it was usually messed up by the others when they were running around, destroying things.

'What shall I try making today? Omelets? Fish?' Tsuna thought to himself as he went towards the table that was in the center of the room, letting Verde off. 'Well, I better check what he has first before deciding...'

Verde remained sitting, studying the other with interest.

* * *

"Dino has arrived with a few of his most trusted men, kora." Colonello announced the moment he entered the room, his bird gripping his head and flying him around. Right after he said that, the Cavallone boss entered with a group of men right behind him. The blond glanced over the room, peering over the people that were settled on the couches, and sighed deeply at the sight of them. Everyone looked so tired and worried; he could feel the atmosphere even outside of the building. The location was at one of the Cavallone mansions that had been borrowed to hold the meeting place, since none of the other locations were usable.

"Reborn, is it true? Has Verde really kidnapped my little brother?" Dino went straight to Reborn, staring down at the hitman, and was looking with hopeful eyes that what he had heard only yesterday was all a lie. But the almost-imperceptible shake in Reborn's head told him otherwise, and he tightened his hands into a fist, looking positively seething. "Dammit…"

Gokudera suddenly stood up, making his way over to the sun Arcobaleno. Yamamoto glanced up for a second, his hand stretched outward, but didn't do anything else. "Reborn, who still needs to arrive?"

"A few more. Fong is on his way here right now, he didn't get my message until a few hours ago. Iemitsu is on a plane with Lal Mirch and a couple of other members from the CEDEF. They, as well as Fong, will be arriving sometime later today. That's all the people I could get due to the situation. No one else is to know that Tsuna has been kidnapped by Verde. This won't do well with any of the other families out there," Reborn grumbled, yanking his fedora down closer to his face. "If they were to find out, there's a high chance that they might try to attack Vongola in its current state."

A deadly silence passed over the group, glancing at each other.

"Dino, I want you and your men to try and locate Verde's location. None of us has any idea where he might be hiding. If we find Verde, we'll also likely to find Tsuna. Watch out for any traps - there's a high chance that he has set up something in advance for us, so be prepared for anything. If you find any information, small or large, tell me immediately," Reborn ordered with ease as he stared at his former student, watching the blond nod his head in compliance. The hitman turned to the guardians, eyeing them carefully. "Gokudera, Yamamoto, I want you two to scout the city; there's a possibly that you might spot those men who kidnapped Tsuna. If you do, locate one of us. We'll handle them ourselves." Reborn glanced towards Colonello, who had a dark smirk on his lips. If it was needed, they would use torture to make sure those bastards talked.

The group quickly filtered out of the room, with the rest of the guardians following Yamamoto and Gokudera. Reborn was left alone in the room with Skull and Colonello and he sighed, his shoulders sagging down. All he had to do now was wait once more. Even he doubted that they would find Verde's location that fast; it would take at least a day or two before they really got anything.

* * *

Tsuna's day passed by quite slowly, and he was actually getting quite bored of waiting. Not that he could blame himself. There wasn't much to do in Verde's base in the first place. The entire area was completely empty and devoid of all life. The only ones that were staying here was Verde, his pet, and Tsuna himself. Cooking was the only thing that helped keep him busy, which he didn't seem to mind all that much - it did let him refresh his skills. However, that didn't take away those in-between hours that the sky guardian needed to kill.

Verde wasn't much of a talker either, which just made things harder. All the scientist did was sit in his little room, continuously working on whatever came in mind, and checking updates, that was it. Tsuna was amazed that the lightning Arcobaleno didn't get fat from just sitting there the whole time. Maybe it's because he had a high metabolism rate in his baby form or maybe he starved…

Most of the time, Tsuna ended staying in that same room with Verde, reading his school material because he was so bored. He had already finished all his homework, a miracle to his standards, and had even gone ahead and read for future classes. That's right, he was actually studying for once.

Amazing what boredom could do for him.

"Tsunayoshi, I believe there's something I need to tell you," Verde suddenly announced as he was staring at the numerous screens before him, reading something that only he could understand. The light reflected off his glass, giving him a bit of a glare. Tsuna glanced up from his notes he had been working on, now and then asking the other for help in understanding something. His pencil was held up in mid-writing, and he blinked his eyes before nodding his head, telling Verde to continue. "I believe that it's best for you to know this. You're in love with Reborn, you've seen our true forms, and you're trustworthy enough to not sell this out to anyone."

Knitting his eyebrows together, Tsuna tilted his head. "What are you talking about, Verde?"

"I want to talk to you about the Arcobaleno curse."

There was a long pause, a silence filling into the room. Tsuna stared as if he had mistakenly heard that phrase wrong, but he knew he didn't.

Verde spun around in his chair, holding onto a cup of tea made by the brunet, and brought it up to his lips, slipping quietly on it. When he pulled it away, he closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath, and opened them to observe Tsuna. "You'll be able to understand us and our condition much better if you know. Are you willing to listen?"

"Yeah, I am. I honestly never thought I'd ever hear it though," the brunet leaned forward against the table. Some of his papers were pushed with him, causing the pencil marks to faintly smudge the paper. "Reborn would never tell me and neither would anyone else. You guys like to keep your secrets, and if you still want to keep it, that's fine by me."

Verde immediately shook his head. "No, it's for the best if you know. Listen, as you may already know, we are the protectors of the Tri-Ni-Set powers. We basically protect the entire world and balance it out. These pacifiers are containers that bear the power to do so. Each one contains enough power to disrupt everything, but there is a reason why there are seven besides the fact that there are seven flames of Sky. The pacifiers balance each other out perfectly and in accordance. Not one is more powerful than the other except for the Sky." He paused for a second, to take another sip, to give him some time to gather his thoughts. "However, to keep the users in check and to make sure that no one would abuse their powers, the curse was introduced. We were transformed into a form that could also handle the power usage easier, but it's still far too great even for us, even in our current form. There are times when we have a hard time controlling it, and lose control over our powers, which causes us to go berserk."

At that Verde paused, glancing away for a moment, and looked a little guilty. From Tsuna managed to get from that look, Verde had been one of them. "Another reason why we were transformed into children was because our adult bodies aren't able to handle the stress and strain of these powers. From what I managed to find out though numerous tests, our bodies would start to break down after a while if we stayed as adults."

"What?" Tsuna paused, biting down on his bottom lip. Did Verde just say that their adult bodies couldn't handle the strain? Did that mean it was impossible to transform them back in the first place? Was it impossible to have Reborn back to his real form? The form he still remembered holding him tightly? The brunet grinded his teeth together in frustration and snapped, jumping up from his seat. The chair fell back, metal colliding with metal, a ringing sound echoing in the room. Tsuna didn't wince from it, and slammed his hands down onto the table angrily. "Why didn't you tell the others that? That it was impossible to turn back from the start? Why didn't you tell _me_?"

Verde watched the other snap, and just sat there calmly because he couldn't blame Tsuna for acting like that. He had kept some facts back from everyone but, it was simply because he didn't want anyone to know. He didn't want to be beaten by some stupid curse. Verde wanted to go back to normal no matter what happened. He no longer wanted to be trapped in this ridiculous and pathetic form any longer. If he confessed, if he let those words slip from his mouth, he would be admitting defeat.

"Because you gave me an idea a while ago when we were talking and it just might work. But it's going to take a lot of time and money to research it, and then test it. And who can I test it on? Myself? If something were to happen to me, who would complete it?" the green-haired scientist grumbled under his breath, tightening his grip on the cup. Tsuna stopped talking and listened, his shoulders falling down. "I couldn't tell the others - they wouldn't understand. And I highly doubted any of them would want to be used as an experiment of mine no matter what happened. I had to keep quiet. Honestly, I wouldn't hesitate using them for it, but if I were to do so, they would uncover my plans. I couldn't allow that to happen either."

The brunet deflated at that, taking a deep breath to release any remaining tension in his body, and rotated around to pick up the fallen chair, putting it into place. He sat down to lean forward against the table and sighed heavily. Tsuna's eyes drooped downward and he just felt tired.

"Listen, the Arcobaleno have so much power, could you imagine what could happen if it were to fall into someone who wants to use it? I, myself, don't care much about this power - it's more of an inconvenience to me - but what choice do I have? I was chosen to bear it probably because of those reasons. To tell you the truth, none of us really use our powers, if not rarely. I only used my power at that time with you at the trials because I saw I was outmatched, and I wouldn't get very far if I didn't. But that was the first time in five years." Huffing, Verde placed his cup to the side and folded his arms across his chest.

"Yes, that would be bad if someone managed to steal it." Tsuna didn't want to state that someone had already tried and succeeded except that Byakuran never knew how to activate the powers. It wasn't until Uni showed up, revealing that she had absolute control. He hoped that something like that would never happen again.

"But there is a safety net if something like that were happened. Only the Sky Arcobaleno can control our pacifiers. Only _she_ can, but it wouldn't be hard for someone to get to her to control the rest of us. The Sky Arcobaleno is an easy target. Well, the past one was."

Tsuna perked up to that. "The past one? Do you mean Luce?"

"Yeah, Luce. She's strong, stubborn, and very kind. I found it hard to disobey her, even if it was a tiny request. That's how powerful she was. But she's dead now. The curse killed her. Her daughter, Aria, on the other hand, proved to be stronger than her mother. She's what you can call scary when it comes down to it," Verde sighed, his mind remembering those times back long ago. Those were fun moments, but they no longer existed anymore; they were all ruined by Luce's death. Everyone fell apart, and even now, they had a hard time with Aria, whose looks were just like her mother's appearance, but with short hair. When they looked at her, they still saw the smiling Luce that would say 'Welcome home' after they came back from a mission. He actually missed those times even when she would pester him at work just to make sure he had eaten something. But no matter how much he thought on it, it was already over and done with. "Luce may be strong, but she was an easy target for people. The only thing that protected her so well were the people around her."

"Verde…" Tsuna watched as the other fell into a depressed state and quietly made his way over. He kneeled down in front of the Arcobaleno and reached over carefully, running his fingers over a cheek. "It's okay…"

This made the scientist snap out of his thoughts and peer up into the warm honey-colored eyes, relaxing at the sight immediately. He didn't understand why, but the sight of Tsuna being so concerned over him made him warm inside. A feeling that he had felt so long ago with Luce was starting to resurface again. "Thanks…" Verde took a deep breath, well aware that his pet was moving around in concern as well. "Okay, let me continue. You're by now wondering about the curse for the Sky Arcobaleno."

"Only if you want to, Verde." Tsuna muttered under his breath, not really enjoying watching someone suffer under past memories.

"It's fine. Anyway, the Sky Arcobaleno takes the worst of the curse… The most despicable part of it. They all have very short lives and possibly even fleeting, since they can give up their life flames to protect or revive us. Luckily, that hasn't happened yet. But for Luce, she just suddenly vanished one day, never to return. By then, all of us Arcobaleno had gone our separate ways, never really interacting with each other anymore than necessary. And then one day, Aria suddenly appeared before all of us during a group meeting about six years ago bearing the orange pacifier. It was obvious from the start that the moment Aria appeared, Luce was dead. Luce probably knew that she was going to die from the very beginning. She always had that special ability of hers, the ability to see the future."

"As for the rest of us, we must bear the pacifiers for the rest of our lives. We will never age, and will always exist in a time different than everyone else." Verde reached forward, touching Tsuna's cheek, feeling the warmth that was radiating from the skin. It was a wonderful feeling and he realized that he was being drawn in and yet didn't bother to pull away. "You will age, grow old, and die. But Reborn and I will continue to look the same, trapped by our responsibilities. That would be the only reason why none of us really have any attachments to other people, we're afraid of watching them leave. We're afraid of watching them grow old and die before us. Eventually, after watching something like that for so long, one of us will go insane. So we keep our attachments to people as little and small as possible."

Tsuna froze at that, unable to move. He couldn't help but feel that this whole thing was just… terrible. But what could he do? Nothing… Nothing at all. He could only watch and hope for the best but he knew it was completely useless. Because, in the end, no matter how much he could pray and beg, time would still continue on regardless of those that wanted to stay or those that got left behind.

"We are trapped…" Verde muttered under his breath, turning away from the brunet to stare at the screen. Numbers flashed by, only the Arcobaleno understanding what they meant, and glanced back. " _But not forever_."

Tsuna perked up at that for a moment, a silent question in his eyes.

"Eventually we'll be let go. One day or another when we are no longer needed to contain and balance the Tri-Ni-Set. I hope for Reborn's sake and my own that you are still around during that time… No, I will make sure it happens," Verde slammed his fist against the keyboard, startling Tsuna. "Right now, I am the only one with the ability to get us back to normal. I will make sure it happens before you die."

Smiling at that announcement, the brunet closed his eyes and whispered the words "Thank you" under his breath.

A silence engulfed them soon after, seeing as they no longer knew what to say. Tsuna slowly went back to his spot, thinking deeply on those words the scientist had given him, wondering about plenty of things that had sparked his curiosity. Verde, on the other hand, went back to clicking away on his computer, remaining quiet since he didn't know what else to say either.

But strangely, Tsuna had a bad feeling about something in the future. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it made his stomach drop like a stone, and his body shivered as if the air had suddenly turned cold. He hoped he was wrong about it…

* * *

Night came faster than both had thought, for they had watched the cameras for any signs of movement for most of the day. But so far nothing had happened, everything was normal and in place. Tsuna did spot a few animals running around by chance, catching a glimpse of a rabbit and a few squirrels. Still, nothing interesting had happened all day, and the only thing that was keeping the brunet entertained, as stated before, was cooking. He had already explored the small base but nothing was very fascinating - all the rooms looked similar to one another. There was one large door he wasn't sure about, and when he had asked about it, Verde had stated that it lead to the main part of the base where Reborn would have to travel through to get to him.

Avoiding that area, Tsuna went back to a couple of other rooms, he had even went back to that one he had first entered yesterday, but couldn't get very far, since he was unable to figure out how to turn on the lights. Not wanting to chance crawling around to find his way out, he went back to the main hallway before going straight to Verde's computer room.

"Verde, aren't you sleepy yet?" Tsuna questioned as he peered over the green-haired scientist.

"I'm fine; I can keep going." The fingers didn't stop pressing the buttons, the baby continuing to work as if nothing was wrong.

The brunet made a face, peering up at the screen then back at the other. "Verde, is this really that important? Can you wait for tomorrow to finish it?"

Verde responded automatically. "Science can't wait."

There was a pause and narrowing of Tsuna's honey-colored eyes. "Sure…" Right after he whispered that, he reached down, plucking the little Arcobaleno out of his seat. There was a startled cry and some arguments but it all went ignored by the brunet. The alligator lifted up its head in confusion, eyeing its master and guest, and stared, not sure on what to do. Tsuna cradled the lightning Arcobaleno against his chest and slowly made his way out of the room, leaving the door open enough to let the alligator through. Verde continued to argue and struggle in the grasp, but the only problem was that he couldn't get Tsuna's arm to budge. He was a scientist, not a combat fighter like Reborn and Colonello. There was no way he could compete a child's strength to an teenager's, but even knowing that, he still tried to find ways to get out. "Stop squirming, Verde. You're getting some rest and that's final. At the rate you're going, you're going to drop dead before you can figure out a way to fix the curse. And then where will we be at?"

There was some more grumblings - the scientist not exactly happy with this revelation.

"Seriously, your project can wait. It's not going to go anywhere. And anyway, you should rest up for tomorrow - just in case. You never know when Reborn will arrive."

"And that's why I need to stay up to keep watch." Verde sneered, pushing his glasses up, watching his bedroom door slide open when they got close enough. Tsuna huffed and glanced back at the alligator that was following right behind and kneeled down to its level.

"Hey there, hope you don't mind, but do you think you could keep watch of the place? Your little master here needs rest before he kneels over dead from exhaustion." Tsuna watched the alligator pause for a moment before turning around, heading back to the computer room. Smiling at that, Tsuna called out. "Thank you."

Verde just stared, knowing very well that he had just lost this battle. The sky guardian closed the bedroom door, but left it opened a crack so that if the animal needed to come in, it could easily do so. He settled the green-haired baby against the bed before flopping down next to him. The baby slightly jumped from the movement, made a snort, and placed his arms against his side, staring down at the other in disapproval. Settling against the sheets and pillow, Tsuna closed his eyes, lying on his side and curled his body inward with Verde in the middle.

The scientist, deciding to give up for tonight, took his glasses off and placed them to the side before moving closer to Tsuna's body, lying down next to him right after turning off the lights. At the last moment, Tsuna reached forward to secure his arms around the baby, keeping him close and insuring that Verde wouldn't try to escape while he was asleep.

"What's with you tonight?" Verde grumbled under his breath, using Tsuna's arm as a pillow.

"Nothing. Just felt like it."

"Yeah, sure."

Tsuna smiled at that, feeling the scientist relax against his body and chuckled, unable to resist in patting the short green hair. Slowly, he watched the baby relax and yawn, his eyes drooping downward. The brunet quietly chuckled again, observing the other until Verde fell fast asleep against him. His fingers pulled back a couple strands of green hair, tucking it behind the ear. 'He must have been really pushing himself…'

Glancing around the room since some light was coming from the hallway through the open crack at the door, he didn't spot anything strange. It was the same as last night. As his eyes fell onto a picture of some sort of organism that was in an open book, an idea suddenly sprang to his mind. His smile turned a little on the wicked side.

Carefully slipping away from the baby, he got off the bed and tiptoed out the door, hurrying down the hallway to get back to the computer room. Peeking inside, he spotted the alligator settled around the chair and entered, heading towards his backpack. The animal glanced up at him for a moment before going back, ignoring the other for the screens. Tsuna peered inside his bag, searching through his stuff until his fingers brushed up against something that was inside. Pulling it out, he grinned. 'Hope this works.'

Tsuna peered down at his cell phone and flipped it open, messing around with the buttons that were inside. He had no signal, which was to be expected. This was done, so Reborn wouldn't be able to track his phone. Verde already had placed that measurement in advance. Pocketing the device, he made his way back to the bedroom and peered down at the green-haired baby. He made the light of the outside hit the other just right so that he didn't need to turn on the lights. Opening his phone back up, he pressed the side button to open the camera function. His fingers covered the bottom where a sound generally came out and snapped a picture. Immediately saving it to a folder that Reborn would least likely go into, he placed the device into his pocket and made his way back onto the bed after closing the door a little, cuddling up against Verde, pulling the Lightning Arcobaleno closer to himself. Closing his eyes, he nestled his face into the pillow once more before drifting off, keeping a tight grip around Verde's frame.

* * *

Reborn glanced over the entire group before him and nodded to himself. This was as good as he was going to get. No one else could get involved. All the Arcobaleno that could come were at his side, Tsuna's guardians were before him on his right, and Dino's men with a couple others added in on the left. Iemitsu was in front with a few members of the CEDEF, all ready for combat.

They had gotten lucky on Dino's part. His men had been able to locate the kidnappers at the beginning by mistake, and it was only by Gokudera and Yamamoto's identification that lead to their demise. After some methods to get them to speak, they had only been able to spill out the area where the two had been dropped off. Reborn grumbled under his breath, knowing that Verde had taken precaution in keeping his place a secret, but it was better than having no information. Everyone in the room looked at him for orders.

"We're heading out tomorrow morning, at dawn."

* * *

Verde squirmed a little in Tsuna's grasp, hearing something shuffling around behind him. He didn't bother paying much attention to it until he recognized the exact source of the noise. Snapping his eyes open, he peered at his animal partner, staring into the reptilian eyes, before his own widened at realization. Immediately turning over towards the brunet, he paused for a moment to take in the peaceful form before shaking his head. He had more important things to do right now.

"Tsunayoshi! Wake up!" The green-haired scientist yelled, shaking the other viciously. "Come on!"

Shifting a little in bed, Tsuna turned towards the Arcobaleno, honey-colored eyes peering open and gazed at the other curiously. "Verde? What?"

"They're here. Reborn's here."


	20. Chapter 20

" _Tsunayoshi! Wake up!" The green-haired scientist yelled, shaking the other viciously. "Come on!"_

_Shifting a little in bed, Tsuna turned towards the arcobaleno, honey-colored eyes open_ _ing and gazing at the other curiously. "Verde? What?"_

" _They're here. Reborn is here."_

* * *

"What's the situation, Verde?" Tsuna immediately demanded the moment he entered the computer room, his eyes moving straight to the little arcobaleno in the middle of the room.

The green-haired baby didn't look back, keeping his eyes on the computer screen, with his fingers rapidly tapping the keys, almost looking like a blur to the brunet's point of view. Figures were appearing on the screen rapidly, rushing through one camera's view and into another. Many of the cameras had already been shot down but there were a couple that had been missed. Those ones were only spared by the group's destruction because Verde had purposefully hid them directly into the wall. Tsuna watched everyone though the screens, his friends, Reborn… He took a deep breath to calm his mind at thought of everyone coming for him. Currently, his so called 'rescue group' was outside, trying to find a way into the base, checking the trees and the grass below them for any sign of entry.

Verde nudged his glasses up further onto his face, momentarily stopping his typing. "They're still trying to find a way in. They won't be able to come into this area just yet, they'll have to go to the front. That's the only opening they'll be able to get into."

Tsuna settled into a chair he had pulled up earlier, holding onto two cups of tea he had brought in with him. He handed one of them over to the arcobaleno and placed the other to the side. "Won't they be suspicious about that?"

"Perhaps, but even if they thought so, they would still try to get in through there. They have no choice. Not unless they want to try and spend hours figuring out another way in." Verde slowly sipped on his drink, the steam fogging up his glasses. "Reborn and the others are desperate. They'll take any chance they can get to get you back as safely as possible. The shorter the time you're with me, the better the chances they think you'll have, even if it means putting themselves in danger."

"Guys…," Tsuna whispered under his breath, guilt overriding his senses.

Verde peered at the brunet carefully and then sighed, holding his tea in front of him. "Don't worry too much. If anything happens, I'll help you out."

A smile made its way to Tsuna's lips. "Thanks."

As soon as that happened, Verde suddenly went back to the computer again, clicking on the keys to make some changes. "Looks like they managed to get in." As he spoke, a smirk appeared on his lips and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes that reflected off the computer screens. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at that, curious on what Verde was thinking at the moment. While that happened, the group entered a large hallway of the building, glancing around the three-way section that was presented before them. "Now I'm not going to make things easy for you."

Tsuna glared when he heard those words. "Verde…"

"Don't worry, none of my traps are life threatening. They all should be dodgeable. Only a few are capable of causing some damage but it's nothing more than a broken bone or two. No one should die. And anyway, who can really stop Reborn when he's on a rampage?"

"That I can agree on."

* * *

"This is very odd…," Fong stated out loud, observing his surroundings with a calm attitude, despite what was going on. He had his hands at his sides, peering back and forth down the multiple corridors. They had met very little resistance except for multiple traps that would pop up at any given moment. A couple people got injured from them, mainly broken bones, but not one of them was life-threatening. A few had been aimed at him, but he dodged each and every single one of them with ease, and only two had been close in getting him. "There's no one around. I can't feel a presence in this place at all."

"Is it a trap?" Gokudera opened another door, peeking inside carefully with his dynamite out, ready to use it at any moment's notice. He blew a piece of hair that had fallen into his eyes out of the way, but saw nothing, and only then stepping out into the open. Yamamoto was next to him, acting as backup with his sword out.

"We've already been in a trap from the moment we walked into this place." Lal Mirch grumbled under her breath, holding her shotgun up against her body. Colonello was beside her, eyes narrowed, and Reborn on his left.

"Still, we really don't have much of a choice." Iemitsu kept himself against a wall, peering down a corridor that was at the end. But just as Fong had stated, the whole place was empty, not a person in sight. The tension around them was getting worse, everyone fearful of what could happen next.

Reborn growled, dashing forward to check the next area. He wanted to shoot something but all he was getting was machinery, devices that moved into his view and weapons that appeared out of the walls to shoot at him. The rest of the group followed right behind him until they came up to a large set of doors. The CEDEF group went in first, checking the area before spreading out into the large room. There was nothing inside, just a large spacious area.

"I was wondering when you would show up."

Everyone immediately tensed at those words, searching around for the speaker, but found nothing. Everything was blended together. It was like those white walls were making fun of them. There was a chuckle and a screen flickered onto a wall on the other side of the room, showing a clear image of Verde settled in his chair. His half-lidded eyes scanned the audience without care, hands in his pocket. Reborn ran forward to separate himself from the group and scowled, pushing his fedora upward. Behind him, a few people called out Verde's name in surprise, ripping out their weapons from wherever they were.

"Verde, where's Tsuna?" Reborn sneered, hate and venom dripping off his voice. He held Leon up beside his head, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Verde paid no attention to the threat, looking quite relaxed, and chuckled again. "He's here. But don't worry, I haven't harmed him yet." He glanced beside him to make his point but it was off screen. His eyes turned straight back to the hitman and leaned closer. "But Reborn, have you remembered anything from that time long ago? If you say something now, I'll let Tsuna go, no harm done."

People's eyes immediately went to Reborn's small figure, trying to understand what was going on. Some didn't comprehend what Verde had meant, while others, who had read the message, were hoping that maybe Reborn knew.

Iemitsu stepped forward, holding a gun in his hand. "My son! You haven't hurt my son, have you?"

"I just said that he's fine." Verde's eyes narrowed. "And I wasn't talking to you. I have no interest in talking to a useless buffoon." There was a small outcry from his harsh comment but it went ignored.

Reborn growled. "Verde, stop these mind games and tell me what the hell you what."

"Can't do that. Then where would all the fun go? Plus, this is more for your own benefit then mine, but either way, it helps me regardless." Verde pushed up his glasses, his lips twitching into a smirk. "When you finally remember, perhaps you'll decide to say thank you. I wonder if you can actually do something as simple as that."

The hitman had a growl, trying to glare a hole into Verde's smug face. Oh, he so badly wanted to blast a few bullets into the lightning Arcobaleno's body.

Gokudera suddenly came running up, catching the two Arcobalenos' attention. His green eyes peered at the screen, holding a stick of dynamite in one hand with the rest pocketed away. "Hey! What about Juudaime! How do we know you haven't harmed him? If I find out that even a piece of hair is missing, I'll kill you!"

"Hayato!" Yamamoto came behind, holding the silver-haired teen back from blowing up the screen in rage. Fong, from the side, sighed at the reaction, having seen this coming, and walked forward a bit, coming up next to Reborn to get a better look at the screen. He blinked for a moment when he saw some movement next to the green-haired baby. Was there really someone else there?

His suspicion was confirmed when Verde glanced over towards that direction again. Looking quite bored, the green-haired scientist twisted his seat, turning away from the group, and picked up a cup. He sipped on the smooth liquid for a few seconds, savoring the taste, and then spoke. "Tsunayoshi, you might want to do something about your storm guardian…"

"I can't believe I'm actually hearing that from you, Verde."

"Well, I'm offering advice."

"I think that's the surprising part. When have you ever really given advice on anything?"

Yamamoto dropped his grip on Gokudera and blinked. He was the first one to recover from hearing that familiar voice. "Tsuna? Is that you, Tsuna?"

There was a little bit of movement on the other side of the video as Verde turned back to the screen. They couldn't see anything in the darkness that surrounded him but they could still hear quite well. "Yeah, it's me. I'm beside Verde. But don't worry about me, I haven't been harmed at all. I've actually been treated pretty well considering my situation."

Verde decided to cut in at that. "So would you like me to treat you badly? That can be arranged."

"Don't you dare…"

Despite the friendliness that was occurring between the two on screen, there was a collective amount of sighs of relief that flooded the room. No one seemed to notice the tone of voice of the two, even Reborn, all solely concerned on Tsuna. They could tell from the way Tsuna spoke that he was okay. Only Fong noticed the strangeness, only he noticed that the way Tsuna talked to the lightening Arcobaleno in such lightness showed something deeper. But he kept it to himself for now…

Verde pushed his glasses up higher on his nose, peering at the group. "We're still in the building, come and find us." With that, the screen cut off, silence deafening to the group.

* * *

Taking another sip of his tea, Verde kept watch of the group as they searched his base, stripping parts to see if there were any hidden passages. It was obvious that they were having a hard time and he couldn't help but make it worse by increasing the number of traps that appeared, doing a little more damage then just a few broken bones. A couple of his traps were destroyed before they were even sprung but he knew his fellow cursed members' abilities and knew just how to surprise them.

"Hey, Verde, I just thought of something." Tsuna spoke from the side, legs folded, holding his own cup of tea. He was staring down at it before peering back up at the other. "You know Xanxus, right?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Well, I think I've just lost some respect for him after some thinking." The brunet slumped downward, sighing, though there was a faint smile on his lips. Verde motioned him to continue. "What does Xanxus' name spell when you take out the X's?"

Unable to stop himself from raising an eyebrow at the strange question, Verde decided to do it anyway. "Well, it spells an-" He paused, staring at Tsuna in confusion then suddenly burst into laughter, almost dropping his cup. Tsuna smiled and settled into his seat, momentarily forgetting about his impending doom. He watched as the scientist continued to laugh, trying to calm himself down, but failed in every attempt. When he finally managed to do so, Verde took a deep breath to fill his depleted lungs. "That poor man. Why hasn't anyone else figured that out?"

"Well, if they have, they're probably either dead or have been silenced. Even I don't plan on saying to it his face unless I want to die." Tsuna sipped on his tea a little before placing the cup back onto the table. "I mean, seriously? I hope no one else has figured it out."

"Like you've stated, if they did, they're probably dead, knowing Xanxus' temper."

"That's true." Tsuna chuckled then turned serious. "So do you think it'll really work? By the way Reborn's acting, he doesn't remember at all."

"Hmmm…," The scientist huffed, folding his arms. His partner was below his feet growling about something before shuffling over to Tsuna's spot, putting his head on top of the brunet's feet, as if using it as a pillow. Blinking in surprise, Tsuna glanced down as Verde continued to think, patting the alligator on the head. The lightening Arcobaleno leaned back against his seat. "It's possible that whatever is keeping him from remembering is much strong on him then the rest of us. He was with you the most. The best next thing is to try and trigger the memories through phases or objects. But that'll be quite hard, there's no telling what would be able to and what wouldn't. The possibilities of it happening are extremely low."

"And saying anything wrong might make things worse."

"That's true as well, Reborn is a suspicious person by nature; he won't trust anything, not even his own memories if he thinks something is wrong with it. I remember telling you long ago that it took a long time to get Reborn to even stay in the same room with the rest of us. I still don't have that weak trust of his in me, unlike the others. I'm the only one," Verde huffed, peering down at his animal partner, and raised an eyebrow at the sight before him. "Do you think Reborn is able to feel fear?"

"Reborn is still human, just like you, regardless of your form. You were human before you got cursed and you're still human now. Emotions are something that is attached to humanity, no matter how dense you are on the subject."

There was a grumble from Verde at those last words. "Well, I don't understand emotions, such useless things."

Tsuna sighed, pinching his nose. "Verde, I know you know that emotions are unpredictable. It's a thing that can change everything. But I hope you'll be able to understand soon." Glancing up at the screen, the sky guardian noticed his friends' positions, watching them pass through, screen by screen. Verde did the same, able to tell that the group was getting closer to their position, to the door that connected the main part of the base to their small section. From the microphones he had attached to the walls, he could hear that the group hadn't really talked to each other since he had appeared, fear of being overheard by the lightning Arcobaleno stopping them. But regardless of the silence between the groups, they were managing to figure out a way around the area.

Reaching forward, Verde tapped a few keys and smirked, zooming onto Reborn's face on a camera. The hitman appeared normal as he observed the hallways but his eyes hidden underneath the fedora looked confused and questioning. Verde's smirk widened. Even if it wasn't a success, he had at least planted the seed into the sun Arcobaleno's mind.

Eventually, Reborn would try to figure things out, wanting to know what was going on. He knew Reborn would do so. The sun Arcobaleno would have no choice but to do so.

His emerald-colored eyes caught sight of the group arriving right outside the main door. "Looks like they're finally here…" As he said that, there was a large bang, the sound resonating throughout the wall's wires and metal. Not wanting the destructive group to blow up anymore of his doors like that and damage anything inside, he pressed the button to open it. Tsuna rose an eyebrow at that but didn't say anything, turning his gaze towards the door behind him. It took a few moments as the group filtered out into the smaller area, checking each place until they came to the one the two was hidden behind. Just as Tsuna put his cup of tea aside, the door opened and the group flooded in as fast as possible. The alligator raised its head up at the intrusion and went back to its master, wrapping around the chair protectively.

All types of weapons were out and ready for action and when they caught sight of Tsuna, sitting there, looking perfectly fine, a few couldn't help but pause. However, that didn't stop Gokudera from calling out his beloved boss and running forward, going straight to Tsuna's side. The brunet stood up and waved, giving a small smile to show that he was unharmed.

"Hey guys." Those words only made suspicion in those grow more, and a few strange looks were thrown his way. A few people surrounded Verde, mainly the Arcobaleno, who just continued to sit in his seat, drinking his tea calmly. There was still steam coming from the top of it and he looked absolutely relaxed, despite the weapons and arsenal that were pointed toward his direction. Tsuna smiled again and waved his hands, reaching over to the closest baby, who was Colonello, and pushed the rifle aside. "You can put your weapons down, guys. He's not going to hurt you. He's not going to do anything."

Reborn was the first to question this. "And why's that? He kidnapped you if you don't remember. He put you in danger."

The sky guardian blinked at that. Was Reborn angry? He was even yelling.

Verde noticed this as well. "I never had any intention of hurting Tsunayoshi from the very beginning. My one and only target was you, Reborn. I thought the hints I gave to you were quite clear."

"Me? What do you want with me? You could have just attacked me like normal. Why go through the most roundabout way?"

Verde laughed. "Now, where's the fun in telling you right now? But I got what I wanted to for the most part. Now, I just have to watch it sprout." He went back to drinking his tea, taking another long sip. "I have to say, Tsunayoshi, you know how to make tea."

"Wait? What's going on? I'm extremely confused. Sawada wasn't in any extreme danger?" Ryohei scratched the back of his head with those bandaged hands. Apparently, he wasn't the only one that was having trouble processing the scene before them. Even Reborn could tell that the way the two were having a conversation on such friendly terms. However, Fong seemed to notice something a little deeper, something that was hidden deep underneath all those words. But he couldn't pinpoint it.

"I agree with Sempai, what's going on Tsuna?" Yamamoto tilted his head, blinking his eyes. "I mean, you were kidnapped right before our eyes."

Verde sighed, noticing the guilty look on Tsuna's face, and then rolled his eyes. He jumped off his seat, ignoring the movement of the weapons that were following him, and settled next to Tsuna's side, jabbing a finger into the brunet. "I made a deal with him. And he fulfilled his part. End of story. The kidnapping was just a part I needed to happen."

Reborn narrowed his eyes but Iemitsu was the one who beat everyone to the question that was all on everyone's minds. "Deal? What sort of deal?"

"That's I'd work for Tsunayoshi only. I'd be a part of his team. That does not mean I'm part of Vongola though." Verde finished, drinking the last bit of his tea and was about to place the cup aside. However, he had a slight problem as he couldn't reach that high up. Tsuna leaned over to grab the cup, doing the work himself, while Verde nodded his head as thanks. "I agreed to his terms."

"And what about us? What did we have in all this?"

Grinning at the question, Verde chuckled. "That's for me to know."

Right as that was spoken, to prevent people from attacking and demanding answers from the lightning Arcobaleno, Tsuna stepped forward. "I'm really sorry, guys. I went along with the idea because I saw a good opportunity and didn't want it to slip by. I didn't see him lying either, so I went for it." Tsuna was lying through his teeth. When had he become so good at it? He would never figure it out. He just started saying the words without stop, unable to control himself from doing so, and they sounded real. Like they weren't lies at all. "I know there will be consequences for my action."

"Oh, there's a consequence alright." The sun Arcobaleno's voice was filled with promises of harsh training and there was a lot of venom. Tsuna paled slightly at that but managed to remain calm, though, he couldn't hide his swallow of fear. "What would have happened if Verde had hurt you? He could have been after the Vongola rings again."

Tsuna shook his head. "Reborn, you've always been telling me to trust my intuition and I did. This is where it led me to. I knew from the very beginning what he was planning to do and kept quiet about it. I felt like I had to." He paused for a moment and closed his eyes. "Sorry."

Reborn made a 'tch' sound and Leon transformed back into his regular form. With that, everyone else seemed to relax. "Then do you know what Verde is talking about?"

With that, Tsuna smiled sadly, filled with despair and loneness. The whole room could feel it and that single gesture made everyone's heart clench. "I have a clue but it's not for me to tell. Sorry, Reborn. I promised."

" _Sorry, Reborn. I promised."_

Reborn blinked as some echo occurred within his mind, tilting his fedora downward to hide his expression. 'What…the hell was that? I've felt like…I've heard that before…' Shaking his head, he growled quietly to himself as he stared up at his student and motioned him to follow. "Let's go."

"And Verde?"

"The CEDEF will take care of him."

Tsuna nodded, following his friends out, but not before waving Verde goodbye. Soon after that happened, the scientist activated a switch, allowing him to escape his capturers along with his alligator. There was some noises made from his movements, the base shaking, and the moment Tsuna stepped out the base, it began to crumble with those that were still trapped inside. He stared at the scene, the color in his eyes a little dull, and smiled despite what was occurring.

He could still hear Verde chuckling from within his mind. The green-haired scientist smirking at what he had done.

It had begun.


	21. Relation

Tsuna knew far beforehand that the stunt he pulled with Verde wasn't going to make life any easier to him. It was as if things had changed the moment he returned home, for better or worse he wasn't entirely sure. There was one thing he noticed that was quite… obvious. Yamamoto and Gokudera were now always watching his every move, even during school. When he wanted to go to the bathroom, one of them would try to follow him (usually Gokudera). It came to the point that it was becoming nothing more than pure annoyance and he couldn't help but feel twitchy whenever they trailed behind him.

Before long, only a week after the kidnapping, Tsuna's patience snapped and he outright told them to stop. The looks on their faces almost made him regret saying such a thing and he gave into his guilt, deciding that it was best to make a compromise so that both sides could be happy. In the end, he'd allow them to follow him around but not to such extremes that would drive him crazy, for example, like the bathroom. The two seemed happy at that and did relax slightly, however, they were still cautious whenever they went home together _especially_ when a car came driving too close to their side of the road.

Of course, things couldn't be said the same way about Reborn. The hitman was basically torturing him, giving him extra painful training, and even making him do things that were evidently impossible. Eventually, when the sun Arcobaleno had enough of making Tsuna scream, he seemed to drift away, getting quiet at times when he thought no one was looking. But Tsuna noticed it.

Ever since coming back, he's always kept a sharp eye out for the hitman. He loved him after all. There were times when Reborn would just stare out the window for hours, not bothering with the brunet at all, and other times he would act like normal. However, Tsuna quickly caught on that Reborn's comments towards him during those times weren't as harsh and his attacks weren't as painful. It was obvious that there was some hesitation within them. The reason why? Tsuna wasn't sure about. He had no clue what was going on in that baby's head. He had never been one to read minds, that was Reborn's job.

Also, during this time after Verde's appearance, the sky guardian noticed that the other Arcobaleno that had come to supposedly rescue him were sometimes seen around the area, none of them having gone back home yet. He thought that they would have left the moment everything was done, but no, they seemed to wander town and there were times he spotted Colonello at the school messing with Ryohei.

The CEDEF, however, left as soon as everything had been cleared up. They were missing half their members due to Verde's little explosive stunt as he escaped their hands and many were in shambles from the amount of deaths. A lot of the corpses were never found in the rumble that was left behind. Leaving as well was his father. Now that part made Tsuna livid. Iemitsu had left _before_ going to see Nana, the one person that was waiting for him the most. Tsuna sighed, pushing the thoughts of his good-for-nothing father out of his mind. Maybe he got it from him… He really hoped not.

Right now, the brunet was settled into his seat in class, watching as the hands on the clock that was on top of the blackboard went by. 'Ahhh…so bored.' Quietly sighing, he made a small huff and closed his eyes for a moment. He was tempted to fall fast asleep but he didn't want to get scolded by the teacher in front of class again.

Deciding to peer around the classroom, his eyes settled on his classmates and began stopping at the students individually. His gaze seemed to linger on Kyoko, his old crush. As he stared, he quickly realized that his heart no longer pounded within his chest for her like it did before and he didn't feel his face heating up like usual. No, he felt nothing. He no longer liked Kyoko like that anymore; it was more of a friend. He smiled to himself. His heart belonged to Reborn now.

Still, he had to admit, he knew the reason why he had liked Kyoko so much before. Back when he was younger, before Reborn had come into his life, it was a puppy dog sensation. She was the only one that didn't treat him badly and he really liked that. Later on with Reborn, the reason he liked her so much was because she was one of the sane ones. With all the chaos that went around in his life and such, she was the only one that seemed… _normal_. Now, even when he knew he no longer liked her, he still liked that personality that she held.

His eyes trailed to Gokudera, who was diligently writing down notes for him as usual. He smiled at the sight; it was so like the other to do such things for him. Pulling his attention away from his storm guardian, Tsuna glanced to Yamamoto… who was obviously fast asleep in his seat.  
'Guess he had a rough day at practice today. Must have tired himself out.' Tsuna chuckled at that thought, tempted to nudge his rain guardian awake but then decided against it. Yamamoto probably needed all the sleep he could get with everything that was going on.

For now, Tsuna decided that it was best to pay attention to his class if he didn't want to face the wrath of Reborn later on. He unconsciously rubbed the side of his face where he had been hit with a hammer earlier in the morning.

* * *

Skull hated his sempais… Well, most of them. They were rarely ever nice to him and always kicked him around, especially Reborn. He hated him the most. Colonello was second to that, though there were times when the blond did it in an advise type way. Lal, though, didn't do anything as harsh as the others and tried to watch out for him… sometimes. Mammon was… Skull didn't know how to describe him and left it at that. Fong was nice to him but only stepped in the fights to help him out when things got too far. Like that time Reborn had almost beat him to the very last inch of his life.

All in all, Skull hated Reborn. He was the person that gave him the most trouble and always enjoyed torturing him. But what could he do? He wasn't as strong as the others. He was well aware that he was the weakest of the group but if he didn't say anything to get himself known, to say that he was stronger, he'd never be seen or heard by them. It wasn't fair.

Even with all that, fighting just wasn't his thing. To be honest, he didn't even know _how_ to fight. That always made him question why he was chosen and it tended to echo within his mind. He wasn't even that good at his current position of power within the Calcassa family. Skull was a driver. That was it. On land, running or walking, he was weak, but get him the controls of a vehicle and he'll do wonders. He'll go at high speeds, zipping pass the world or even getting away from enemies. He was the best at that.

But no one needed that.

No one needed a driver anymore.

Skull was useless in this current world and with his baby form, he could no longer drive. He wished for the old days where he was free.

Anyway, back to his fellow Arcobaleno, Luce wasn't a bad person. He actually liked her very much and would be willing to do anything for her. She was the mother he never had and he loved her dearly. Many times, she would come to defend him by scolding Reborn whenever he pushed him around like some sort of doll.

Still, that didn't stop the sun Arcobaleno from doing so even after she had passed away.

Like right now.

Forced to gather at Namimori shrine with the rest of the Arcobaleno (the ones that were here) except for Verde, who refused to show up. Apparently, they were supposed to talk about Verde's involvement with Vongola Decimo but nothing really came up. Reborn had tried demanding answers from the green-haired scientist previously but no matter how much he tried, he got nothing. Verde refused to budge and Tsuna wasn't helping. The brunet's lips were sealed on the matter and, even with all the threats and beatings he got, not a word passed though.

Reborn was starting to get irritated about this whole mess and, of course, the best way to get rid of his frustration was to use it on something or _someone_ in this case. Poor Skull always got the worst end of the stick.

So here he was, the purple-haired Arcobaleno, walking down the street with a large bruise forming on the side of his face, his helmet gone. There was some grumbling under his breath, angry at his sempai for doing such terrible things to him but there was nothing he could do. At least, he managed to get away from everyone even if it meant getting drinks for them.

'Why do I put up with this anyway? I'm the great Skull! I should be getting everyone to bow down to me!' At that, he groaned, rubbing the side of his head in pain since he had accidently moved the side where the bruise was forming. He wanted to ditch the others but he knew better. Once Reborn and Colonello caught up to him, they would both beat him to a pulp.

Entering a small convenience store, he made his way to the drinks section and eyed the shelves of bottles and cans. He blinked, how was he supposed to get all the way up there? Grumbling more under his breath, Skull tried climbing and jumping up but he didn't get very far.

"Why does it have to be so high up?" Skull whispered to himself, staring up at the lines of drinks, unsure on what to do next.

"What are you trying to get?"

Blinking, the cloud Arcobaleno spun around shocked. He hadn't noticed anyone coming up behind him and backed up a little to get a better look since he was so small. At first, he didn't recognize who it was since he rarely ever saw the person until the features settled into his mind. "Hey, it's you! Vongola, right?"

Tsuna twitched at that title. Why did everyone call him Vongola? "Just call me Tsuna." He kneeled down so that he didn't have to strain his neck so much and couldn't help but notice that Skull didn't have his usual helmet on. That and there was a noticeable black and blue bruise forming on a check. 'Must have been Reborn...' He still remembered that time in the past when the hitman had been responsible for all of Skull's beatings. As he looked closer, he took notice of the bandages on the baby's face. 'After all this time, he still has those on.'

" _Even Skull, who had started to worship you slightly since that day_ _…_ "

A small smile appeared on the brunet's lips, never realizing how much an effect he had left on the cloud Arcobaleno.

"Let me guess, Reborn has been bullying you again." Tsuna sighed, staring into those big purple eyes that were slightly red around the edges. Skull had evidently been crying earlier.

Turning a little crimson, Skull immediately shook his head. "N-No, he hasn't. He hasn't done anything to me. I-I just fell, yeah, that's right. I fell."

Raising an eyebrow at that, Tsuna really couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you defending Reborn? Just to let you know, Reborn thinks of me as his personal toy."

The cloud Arcobaleno paused at that, realizing that the other was in the same boat as him. He didn't really know that there were others like him. "O-Oh..."

"So why are you here, Skull?" Tsuna questioned, though, he had a pretty good guess on the answer. Skull must have been sent to get something for the others, most likely drinks due to the fact that they were standing before some. Still, that left him with the question as to _why_. Why was Skull still in Japan? And why hadn't he gone back to the Calcassa family? It was odd. "Are you getting drinks for the others?"

"Yeah... um..."

"Which ones?" Tsuna glanced up at the numerous rows of bottles, some even higher up then him. He leaned over to pick up the baby and settled him on his shoulders. "Hang on, alright."

"Y-Yeah." Skull clung to the brunet's shoulder, blinking his large eyes, and couldn't help but find this person incredibly kind compared to the others that he had met. He pointed to the cold sport drinks that were on the sixth row but there was a problem. There were too many flavors. "I think it's the plain one... Two of them."

"I bet those belong to Lal and Colonello. Let me guess, Reborn gets coffee." Tsuna picked two bottles up and held them in his grasp before moving towards the hot drinks area.

"It's actually an espresso," Skull commented, tightening his grasp on Tsuna's clothes since he was using that to hold himself up. He was trying not to fall down. The ground didn't look all that friendly to his eyes. The brunet, seeing the trouble, placed the two current drinks to the side and reached back to help Skull up, letting him sit instead.

"Is that better?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks." The purple-haired Arcobaleno leaned to the side against the brunet's head. It's been a long time since he's had something nice done to him without asking for something in return. Long ago, only Luce had cared for him in all her motherly affections. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice Tsuna shifting around the room.

Grabbing the two bottles once more, the sky guardian continued to the other side of the drinks, looking over the numerous hot cans. He pulled out a small espresso and juggled it for a few seconds in one hand since he had forgotten it was _hot_. "S-So what's next?"

"Ummm… Oolong tea."

"I take it that's for Fong. Is Mammon there?"

"No, just the five of us."

"I see. Well, have you ever tried Ramune?" Tsuna glanced back to the cold drinks section, spotting a couple of bottles in different flavors. "Or bubble tea? Thai tea?"

Skull blinked questionably, not entirely sure what those are. They sounded interesting and secretly, he wanted to try them out. Whenever he came to Japan, he never really got a good chance to try their food and drinks. He was always forced to run around to complete things for his boss or for someone else. "Are they good?"

Tsuna paused, holding the four drinks, two in each hand, and immediately put them down to look through his wallet to see how much money he had. He had about enough to get a few items. Good thing he saves as much as possible considering his terrible luck of getting it stolen by bullies. Placing the drinks back into their original spots, he began making his way out the store.

The cloud Arcobaleno began panicking the moment he saw that happen. "H-Hey! What are you doing? I'll get in trouble if I don't come back!"

"Skull, I hate to say this but you would have gotten in trouble regardless. It wouldn't have mattered how fast you got those back, Reborn would still have kicked you." The baby went silent at that, finding truth in those words. It was true, no matter how much of a good job he managed to do, he still got hit and tortured. He buried his face into Tsuna's hair, wondering why he still did those things regardless of the end result. "So for today only, you'll get to try out some of those drinks. And you can put the blame on me if you like, I don't mind. I'm already in trouble since I escaped my friends. Reborn said I'm supposed to have a bodyguard with me at all times whenever I go out."

Skull found him turning a little red at that when he saw Tsuna's smiling face, tightening his grasp. "T-Thanks."

Tsuna chuckled, there was no difference between this one before him and the one in the past. They were so alike. It was nice to know but at the same time, it was sad to see Skull still being treated the same as always. Exiting the store, he made his way towards the nearest tea shop he knew, dodging and ignoring people that were in the way. Some looked at him strangely and in curiosity since he had a purple-haired baby dressed in a biker suit and wearing facial piercings. Of course people would stare.

It was only a five minute walk to the shop and when he opened the door, he heard the bell jiggle at the top to alert those inside and peered up at the board that held all the listings of drinks. People were either standing up or sitting in the couches in the area, many holding their own drinks.

"Well, choose which one you want to try. I've kinda already decided." Tsuna glanced over to Skull, who was still looking over the entire list. There were so many choices for him to choose from and they all sounded great. A minute or two passed and Skull still didn't know which one to try. Tsuna shook his head at the expression the other was making, recognizing it. "How about I recommend one for you? Maybe later, when you come back again, you can try another."

Skull deflated. "Yeah, please do. I can't decide."

"Um... How about trying mango? A lot of people, myself included, like it." Getting a nod in approval, Tsuna went up to the counter and made two different orders, one for mango and the other for green apple. Paying for the orders, Tsuna went towards a free table that was near to the window and sat down. Skull hopped off his shoulders and settled on the top. It didn't take long for their orders to be ready and Tsuna got up to grab them, placing Skull's on the table. Pulling the straw down, the Arcobaleno managed to take a sip despite his size, watching as a few tapioca pearls went up. Tsuna waited for a couple of seconds before asking. "Well? How is it?"

"It's good, I like it." Skull grinned, taking another sip, quickly downing the drink. Tsuna smiled at that and glanced at his own. He should have ordered the green apple jellies with his but he had forgotten. Turning his attention away from that, he peered at Skull, observing the baby.

'I wonder if he remembers me. Probably not, since everyone's been erased. But maybe like Verde's, I just need to jog it.' Silently studying the Arcobaleno, he took notice of those white bandages, realization coming to him. 'Could I use that?'

"Hey, Vongola." Skull had just started speaking when Tsuna suddenly waved his hand.

"Just Tsuna. I don't exactly like being called that. What's with people and calling me that?"

"It's easier that way. And I didn't really know your name."

"Oh..." The brunet bit his bottom lip at that. "Well, it's Tsuna. Just call me that. Now you were saying."

Skull darkened at little at that and then nodded. "Tsuna... you're really nice to me. T-Thanks. It's been a long time since anyone has done anything for me without wanting something in return."

Frowning, Tsuna pulled his lips away from the thick straw and stared at the other for a few moments. Skull's drink was halfway done and he could see multiple tapioca pearls lingering at the bottom. The brunet glanced outside for a moment and spotted something in a woman's grocery bag as she passed. An idea appeared in his mind from that and he jumped, picking up his drink and Skull at the same time. They made their way outside, well aware that the cloud Arcobaleno was crying out in surprise, wondering what was going on.

"Skull, your day with me isn't over yet. There are still a lot of things we can do. And don't worry, the others will be fine without you for a few hours." Tsuna crossed the street to make his way to another store. It was a sweets shop this time. "For today, relax and have some fun. There's no need to worry about the Mafia or Reborn until later."

Skull couldn't get himself to make a comment back to that and nodded his head, tightening his hold on Tsuna's shoulder. His drink was in one hand, which was a little difficult to do, but he managed. They basically went throughout the day, tasting certain foods and drinks here and there.

In the end, Tsuna didn't have to pay for everything as Skull offered to reimburse half since he felt that the other was doing everything for him. However, the cloud Arcobaleno went ahead and paid for most of the things, but he didn't mind. He was enjoying his time with Tsuna. Skull had to admit though that some Japanese food was strange, good depending on what he ordered, but his favorite so far had to be the sweets.

By the time they realized it, the sun was starting to set in the distance and Skull had long forgotten about meeting up with his fellow Arcobaleno. How long has it been since he had been able to go out like this and have fun? Too long for his tastes.

Tsuna was currently holding a dango in one hand, slowly chewing on a piece, licking his lips when the sauce got onto it. They were in a park now, enjoying the scenery and quiet that was contained in the area. "So Skull, did you have fun today?"

"Of course!" Skull grinned, eating his own dango happily, and swung his feet back and forth on the brunet's shoulder. "Thanks a lot."

"No problem. Hey I got a question. Why all the piercings?" Tsuna decided that now was the best time to start edging towards his goal. He had almost forgotten about all his troubles until now.

"Huh?" Skull tugged at one of his earrings and grinned. "Because I thought it would look cool… but… sadly not everyone thinks the same way. I'm made fun because of them."

"Then why don't you take them off?"

"Well, it's hard to say." Scratching the side of his cheek, his large purple eyes stared up at the other. "I've had them on for so long that I don't want to take them off. They're a part of me." Tsuna nodded to that and finally asked the question he had been dying to ask.

"What about those white bandages?"

At that, Skull paused, blinking his large eyes. He reached up to touch one of them and then smiled softly. "W-Well, I got this before I became an Arcobaleno of course. I met this really nice guy and he put them on me, well, he had to since I got beat up. And after that, they just remained on. Though, I changed them into something different so that it wouldn't cause any problems."

Tsuna closed his eyes. Skull remembered getting them and he knew that it was from a person. Did Skull know more about his memories then Verde did? "When was this?"

"When was what?"

"When did you get them? Like at a house or someone else's place?"

Skull hummed to himself, jumping off of Tsuna's shoulder, and landed onto a nearby table in the park. They were located far away from everyone else, hidden behind lots of trees. He looked confused about the question but answered regardless. "I got it at the man's house. I was getting beaten by some thugs. They even stole my money."

Tsuna jumped at that, eyes wide in surprise. ' _What_? That's not true! That's far from the truth! Skull got those at the Arcobaleno meeting when he got beaten up there! I healed him! I bandaged him!' The brunet froze at that, his eyes still trained on the other. 'Did… Did someone implant fake memories as well? I need to tell Verde about this. Something's terribly wrong here. This is no longer a memory erasure, its something more…' He growled to himself, feeling frustrated over the facts and problems that were piling up. He needed to see Verde badly, to tell him of what he had just found out. But he'd need to get past Reborn first… There was no way in hell Reborn was going to let Tsuna talk to Verde by himself.

"H-Hey…"

The brunet snapped out of his dark thoughts and turned to Skull, who was looking a little pale suddenly. Tsuna blinked. "Sorry, I zoned out."

"I can tell… Um… Why do you want to know how I got them?" Skull tilted his head. He didn't get it. One moment Tsuna was all smiles and now he was frowning, almost looking angry and confused. Reborn scared him so often but that dangerous look in Tsuna's eyes was a close second. Still, he knew that something was wrong, those questions may sound innocent and nothing more than simple curiosity but there was something deeper. But he couldn't figure it out.

"I'm just…" Tsuna made a face at that. "Curious. Yeah, I'm curious." Looking away, he stared off into the distance where he could see some kids messing around on the playground and sighed, his shoulders falling. He leaned onto the table, burying his face into his arms.

Skull tilted his head further and took a step forward. Sadly, he didn't get very far before something painful slammed into his side. One moment he was looking at Tsuna, the next, he was flying and seeing the sky pass by before crashing to the ground painfully, rolling on the rocks and grass. He remained still for a moment, his whole body frozen, before the gears in his mind started to work. Carefully getting up, he coughed and shook his head, his vision dizzy, and he could see objects fluttering before his eyes. Eventually, he managed to straighten himself up and peered up at the table only to pale in complexion.

Tsuna's face was a little white, staring at his tutor in fear despite their body sizes. The glare Skull was getting from the hitman made the poor purple-haired baby and the brunet shiver in horror. Reborn sneered, looking frightfully angry. He wasn't alone though. Colonello and Lal were right behind him and Fong was at the very back, all on top of the table. The storm Arcobaleno passed a glance towards Tsuna, surprised at finding the sky guardian here as well, and gave a polite nod, which Tsuna had to ignore because of his tutor's glaring gaze. While Reborn was seething in his anger, the other three behind looked a little concerned towards the purple-haired baby.

"Where the hell have you been, lackey?" The hitman glared, staring down at the cloud Arcobaleno. "You were supposed to be back hours ago." He pulled out Leon, transforming the lizard into a gun, and fired a shot, just missing Skull's head. The purple-haired Arcobaleno jumped at the sound, eyes glancing down at the hole, and immediately hid behind a tree hoping that it would be able to protect him. Though, in the back of his mind, he knew it was pointless.

Tsuna could only watch for a few seconds before jumping in. "Reborn, please stop! He didn't do anything wrong." Stepping in-between the two babies, he took a deep breath. "I'm the one that took him away and forced him to come with me."

The hitman only glanced at him, not really caring about his words. But he did freeze for a moment.

Tsuna sighed, taking that pause to rush over to Skull's side to help the fallen baby. He was acting like a barrier between the two even when he looked so frightened at the fact that he was standing against Reborn. Soon after arriving at Skull's side, he was kicked by the sun Arcobaleno, landing a few feet away. He rolled a bit, completely surprised by the attack, and blinked his watery eyes to get the dirt that made its way in out. His clothes were covered in dust and grass stains and the side of his face where he had been hit was blemished bright red.

"Dame-Tsuna, didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to go around without one of your guardians with you? What are you doing here?" Reborn growled, standing a little ways aside. He jumped off the table and gradually made his way up to the brunet, Leon still in his hands. Tsuna slowly got up, rubbing the spot he had been kicked at, and stared down at the hitman sadly.

Skull could only watch from the side, eyes wide, and for a moment to the unseen eyes something flashed within. It was unnoticed since all eyes were focused directly on Tsuna and Reborn. A whispered "Tsuna…" escaped his lips.

"Reborn, when are you going to get over the fact that Verde didn't really kidnap me? He's on my side."

Reborn narrowed his eyes at that. "You can't trust him. Verde will never fulfill his promise."

Tsuna casted his eyes downward, he knew Reborn was stubborn but didn't think he was this stubborn to the point of not listening. He knew that the concern Reborn was showing him was obvious and he understood it… but some of it… was uncalled for.

"Reborn, you've always told me to follow my intuition and I have. And it keeps telling me that Verde is okay. The only problem is that _you_ can't trust _me_ when it comes to these sort of things."

"What was that?" That comment seemed to throw Reborn off, glaring at the teen in rage. He kept it well under control, his fedora lowered to cover his eyes, but his teeth could be seen grinding together.

The brunet held his ground, he had to. If he so much as twitch, Reborn would take it as a sign of weakness and devour him though words only. But regardless, this was getting ridiculous. Ever since the incident with Verde, he'd been kept on constant watch. That wouldn't have been so bad if Reborn hadn't been getting stubborn on letting him do things he wanted to.

He refused to let Tsuna go anywhere without a bodyguard, no matter how many times Tsuna kept telling him that the kidnapping was just part of Verde's plan and there was no one really after his life. Not only that, Reborn kept making every _single_ thing difficult. Going to school, going to the store, even going outside into his own backyard. Probably because of his frustration over everything now lead to this. Still... right now...

Tsuna sighed. "Look, I'm going home. I don't want to deal with this right now." He turned away, leaning down to pick up Skull, and began walking away.

"Tsuna, we're not done talking."

"Well, I am! I'm tired! I don't want to deal with this anymore, alright?" the brunet grumbled, still walking away with Skull still in his arms. The purple-haired Arcobaleno didn't have any comment and continued for cling to the other for dear life, he didn't want to stay behind, not with Reborn so angry. Eventually, the two disappeared behind the trees as they exited the park, leaving the rest of the Arcobaleno behind.

Tsuna sighed when he had gotten far enough, relaxing his shoulders. 'To think we're starting to drift apart. I only wanted to be close to Reborn but its not working. Now with everything that's just happened, there's a large rift between us.' Closing his eyes for a moment, he still wanted to love Reborn deeply but the hitman was just making it so hard. He didn't like the Reborn that was here before him, it just wasn't the same. 'At the rate this is going, I may not want him to remember. I may just want to make all of it disappear... Is that for the best?'

"Hey, Tsuna..."

Snapping out of his thoughts, the sky guardian glanced down into his arms, at Skull. "Yeah?"

The cloud Arcobaleno paused for a moment, staring at the brunet curiously. There was something noticeably flashing through his eyes. "Your name is Tsuna, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, didn't I already say that?" This made the teen tilt his head in confusion. "You should already know that."

"Oh..."

'That's odd... What brought this up?' Tsuna eyed the other in question. As he thought, something seemed to snap within, his mind putting the pieces together immediately. 'Is it possible?' He stopped walking, setting Skull down to the ground so that he could get a better look at the baby. He decided to ask one of his previous questions again. "Skull, who gave those white bandages to you?"

The cloud Arcobaleno froze at that, staring directly at the other. Skull then glanced around nervously as if something was wrong. He was pale and confused, that was clear and obvious, but why? Tsuna wasn't entirely sure. Finally, the baby answered. "You..."

Tsuna's eyes widened for a second then smiled brightly. "So you remember me now?"

"Y-Yeah, I remember clearly. When I saw you protecting me, I just remembered on the spot. It was as if everything cleared up. It wasn't thugs that were beating me up, it was Reborn and the others, and you were there to patch me up, right?" Skull scratched the side of his head, still confused about a lot of things. "B… But… How were you able to travel to our time period? I mean that was ten years ago, right?"

"Verde can explain that better than me, but it was through the ten-year bazooka. Actually, I'm pretty sure Verde is going to come after you for information once he finds out you remember. He's interested in this strange occurrence. _He_ merely forgot, but you, on the other hand, had your memories replaced instead." Tsuna muttered the last few parts but Skull was able to hear it. He stared at the ground after kneeling down, deep in thought.

"So Verde remembers?"

"Yeah, he's the first one to do so, you second. The others haven't realized it and you can't tell them a single thing about what is going on." Tsuna leaned forward, pulling Skull closer. "Listen, Skull, please don't tell anyone about this. The only one you can talk to about this is Verde. If you tell the others, they won't believe you since their memories have been altered. Can you do that for me?"

Skull blinked for a few moments then nodded his head. He remembered all the feelings he had for the other from that time. It was a slow process but it was happening all over again. Tsuna saving him only made it clearer. He shook his head once more, only faster. "I'll do it!" Staring intently, Skull had gone back to his old worshipping state as Verde had described about long ago.

"Thank you. Well, right now, I need to head back home. I suggest talking to Verde about this sometime soon. He'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Alright!" Before Tsuna knew it, Skull was running off into the distance, vanishing behind a wall. The brunet blinked in surprise and then chuckled.

'Well, at least, he's energetic. Hope he'll be able to keep quiet about this.' Tsuna sighed and made his way back his home, hoping he wouldn't get too much of a scolding from Reborn.

He wished for that but in all truth he doubted it.


	22. Heed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "There is no refuge from memory and remorse in this world. The spirits of our foolish deeds haunt us, with or without repentance." Gilbert Parker

Saying that Reborn was angry was an understatement. He was furious and was out for blood. Never in his long life did he think Tsuna would ever respond back to him like that. It was just so… so… Reborn cursed colorfully, he had no word for it at all. But he couldn't hide his murderous thoughts on the boy. He so wanted to strangle the teen for what he had the nerves to say.

Tsuna had defended Skull! Skull of all people!

Reborn couldn't wrap his mind around it. Why? And why that idiot of all people? He didn't know nor understand the strangeness of this whole mess. He had a funny feeling bubbling in his stomach since the beginning of the kidnapping yet he couldn't put his finger on it. Trying to get something from Verde was close to impossible but he was absolutely positive that the scientist had a good idea on what the hell was going on. Regardless, even getting Verde just to say a couple of words were too risky and there was no telling if the other would even tell the truth. The green-haired arcobaleno loved to twist his words. Still, the thought of Tsuna and Verde working together made Reborn shiver and his blood run cold. He didn't like it at all.

But what could he do? Verde was now Tsuna's ally, a miracle in the making he'd have to admit, and the scientist had every right to see his student. Not that he was happy about it. Of course, there was to be some protection whenever the two met up but he wasn't sure if that would really help. Verde was someone who was dangerous on his own. How Tsuna trust could such a person, he didn't understand.

And he had once more tried to get information from Tsuna, almost every day now, but yet again that didn't work. As usual, Tsuna kept his mouth shut and eventually remained like that. Reborn kept an eye out as usual to keep watch just in case something happened to slip. Still, even with all that, Reborn's curiosity about the whole thing continued to grow enormously. He knew that there was something going on and he was desperate to find out.

Anyways, back to Skull. He was still angry that Tsuna would dare protect that bumbling idiot. Yet, he didn't know what to say about the whole thing. Why would Tsuna defend Skull? It didn't make any sense. Now that he was thinking about it, Tsuna seemed more… more mature than usual. The teen seemed _older_ , yet that wasn't possible. Reborn knew that, but the thought didn't leave his mind.

The changes had started only a few weeks ago, and it wasn't noticeable, he had barely registered the shift, and had simply put it into the back of his mind never to think much of it again. But now, he was seeing it, the truth.

But what could he do? There was nothing he could at this time. So he would just have to sit back and wait. He only hoped that everything would turn out all right.

* * *

Skull feared Verde for many reasons. The green-haired scientist was creepy and quite often scared the shit out of him. Searching for him was the last thing Skull wanted to do, but for the sake of Tsuna, his request, and to find out what the hell was going on, the cloud Arcobaleno had to do it. Though, his legs were still shaking at each step.

Traveling through the forest he had gone through during the rescue, he came up to the old base that had been destroyed by Verde. The remains were still there, the smoke gone, and some moss and grass were starting to grow over the destruction.

There was a hint of rotting flesh in the air, the corpses of the buried soldiers still there. It had been tragic to lose that many lives at once, even more for Vongola's team, and everyone shared the same sorrow. It had been a flash through that period, screams and yells ringing in his mind, and Tsuna was just standing behind the group staring dully.

Shaking his head to get rid of those memories, Skull noticed that it was oddly quiet in the area, as there were no birds singing and no bugs buzzing around. One would think that the scent of flesh in the air would bring all the predators down for a feast and yet it was empty and voided of life.

He only hoped that this would work since he wasn't even sure if Verde was still in this area. Calling out, he closed his eyes. "U-Umm… V-Verde! A-Are you still here? T-Tsuna sent me!" There was no answer to his call and he opened his eyes to see nothing as well. Maybe Verde was no longer here. Despite that, he continued to call out. "He said that I should find you. I have something important to tell you. S-Something about memories!"

Just as he finished speaking, the ground below him shifted and he jumped back immediately. He cowered behind a broken metal board and watched as the grass was pulled back with a platform underneath it rising up. Verde appeared, standing quietly on the metal sheet, and stared at the cloud Arcobaleno intensely with a smug grin.

"So I take it that you finally remembered the truth as well?" The green-haired scientist smirked, a certain glint appearing in his eyes.

Skull could only nod his head, gulping at the strange look he was given.

"I see. Come in. Quickly, I must have you tell me what you know." Verde reached forward, grabbing Skull's arm, and dragged him onto the same platform. There was a shift and the two disappeared underneath the ground.

* * *

School was considered normal to Tsuna, it was just day in and day out. A routine that never really changed at all. He could even predict what would happen for the entire day. It was that boring and easy… Well, easy in a sense that he could predict what he'd be getting. Still, regardless of this, even after a few of weeks, he still felt out of place with the rest of his classmates. He felt different. And no, it wasn't because of the fact that he lost his virginity. No, it was because he saw things differently. He didn't see the world around him how he used to. His intuition helped him greatly in getting around and doing the right things. Tsuna knew he was depending on it more and more and putting his complete trust in it. It seemed funny but it worked for him.

When school ended, Tsuna was given a surprise, one he definitely didn't expect at all. He hadn't even seen the person for a couple of weeks already and in all honesty, he had almost completely forgotten about her.

"Chrome?"

His two guardians next to him were both staring at the female illusionist and immediately formed a guard in front of him. Gokudera yelled a few insults towards her, which she looked unaffected by, while Yamamoto just stood there laughing but Tsuna could tell that he was tense about her appearance. They still hadn't gotten over the incident yet.

"Um…Boss? Could I talk to you for a minute?" Chrome stepped closer, still behind the school gates, and held her bag closely to her body. She looked nervous and tended to stare at the ground for a moment or two before looking back up then down again. Some students passed by her, curious as to why there was a girl from a different school here, then left without saying a thing. It wasn't their problem. Some stopped for a moment, all boys, to stare at her revealing school uniform.

Tsuna blinked, ignoring everyone around him except for his one of his two mist guardians. "Well, sure. Right now?"

The girl nodded her head, tightening her grasp on her bag. "I need to talk to you alone." Her eyes drifted to the two guardians next to the brunet and blinked when they suddenly took a step forward in defiance. Chrome didn't look scared and continued to look ahead through that one eye.

Noticing the act from his friends as well, Tsuna smiled reassuringly at the two and stepped away, going to Chrome's side. "Guys, I'll be right back. Don't worry. Chrome won't do anything to me."

"Jyudaime, it's not that woman I'm worried about! It's that bastard that hiding behind her!" Gokudera growled, tempted to pull out his box weapons or his dynamite. "I bet she's just following orders from that asshole to get you alone!"

Tsuna sighed, he loved Gokudera's loyalty towards him, but this was too much. Sure he knew that his storm guardian's worry was obvious and he knew why. Mukuro wasn't someone he trusted all that much either and yet his intuition told him otherwise. The events of the future only made that feeling stronger. He wanted to see where this might go and he did want to know how Mukuro has been. It was just like with Verde and Xanxus in the past.

Now he had to follow what those whispers inside his head were telling him that was obviously leading him somewhere. Stepping forward again, he turned to his friends, still keeping his smile on. "Look, you two. I'm going regardless. Chrome is one of my guardians and so is Mukuro despite where he stands. If you like, head to my place and wait there for me. I'll be back, I promise."

That seemed to do the trick as the two went off leaving Tsuna all alone with his female mist guardian. The brunet sighed and turned towards Chrome, leading her off, away from the school and the numerous eyes that were staring. He was certain that there will be rumors spreading around like a wildfire by the time he got back to school tomorrow. As they got further away, Tsuna dropped his smile and stopped moving to peer directly at the girl.

"So, Mukuro, how long are you going to keep that act up?"

Immediately after he spoke those words, mist surrounded the female and a familiar laughter echoed within the area. "Oya, oya, I never thought that you would willingly come out to see me. And by yourself too." Mukuro appeared through the mist as it settled and then faded away. He was holding onto nothing and gave a leer with his usual wicked grin. His multi-colored eyes stared at the other with a calculating look. Stepping closer, Mukuro invaded Tsuna's personal bubble and stared straight into the honey-colored eyes curiously.

Tsuna backed away by instinct, not really liking the other so close. It made him uncomfortable.

"Hmm…" Mukuro tilted his head, looking the brunet over. "You've changed greatly, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You don't appear as…weak as before. If I had to say, it's quite…sudden." Shifting closer once more, the illusionist smirked, his eyes watching as the other took the same number of steps back at the same time.

"I don't know wha-"

"Don't play coy with me. I've been watching you, always. Though I'll admit, I like this change, however, it has sparked my curiosity. I want to know what happened. And I have a feeling that it has something to do with the Arcobaleno." As Mukuro spoke, Tsuna noticed that their surrounding area was shifting as if they were encased by a bubble. People that walked into it never noticed that they were in the middle of an illusion. Mukuro studied the other carefully. Normally, the sky guardian would be freaking out right about now but the brunet looked calm, relaxed even. Tsuna, on the other hand, was doing the same thing as Mukuro, observing the blue-haired teen. He could tell that Mukuro was curious, curious enough that he could risk his energy just to talk to him.

"Well, I can't exactly tell you that. Anyone can hear us after all." Tsuna backed further up, tempted to reach into his school bag to grab his fighting equipment. But he kept hesitating, did he really want to hurt Mukuro?

"Don't lie to me, Sawa-"

"Tsuna." Cutting in, the brunet stood still, watching the other carefully. "Or at least call me Tsunayoshi. What's with people and calling me by my full name or Vongola? I don't like it."

"Don't switch the topic, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro couldn't help but roll his eyes, folding his arms and shook his head. "I know you know exactly what happened to you and that you know very well that we're inside one of my illusions. No one can get in without me knowing. That pet Arcobaleno of yours won't be able to break in that easily either." Mukuro reached forward and grabbed the sky guardian's arm, yanking him closer. They began walking once more, moving quietly down the street. Some people passed by them but the two were unnoticed even though normally Mukuro would stand out quite well among a crowd due to his looks and hair color. That and he was holding Tsuna a little too close to his body.

"Mukuro, have you been watching me all this time? How much do you know?" Tsuna still didn't feel threatened despite how dangerous the other was and allowed the close contact. And as long as they weren't seen, he didn't mind all that much. His eyes peered up at the other in curiosity. Was Mukuro also questioning the kidnapping as well? Tsuna thought it would have stopped by now.

"Enough to understand that something has been going on and that I want to know what it is."

"I see… You're not going to tell anyone else are you?"

Mukuro huffed at that, yanking himself closer. "Who's there to tell? I only have my small group and if I told anyone else, do you think they would believe me?"

The brunet couldn't help but laugh at that. It was true. No one would really listen. It was well known among everyone he knew that his family members weren't comfortable with Mukuro. And some even openly hated him, like Gokudera. But Tsuna didn't. Sure, they had plenty of dislikes and whatnot, but he never hated the other. That feeling only grew stronger when he found out about Mukuro's past. "That's true. No one would. Probably not even Reborn either."

"That Arcobaleno despises me. He wants nothing more than to lock me away forever and never allow me to get anywhere near you." He gave his usual laughter before continuing. "He's afraid that I'll be a dangerous element to you."

Tsuna smiled, Reborn has always been overprotective of him, many times from the very beginning of their strained relationship of tutor and student. Is it possible that despite forgetting about their time together in the past, Reborn's mind unconsciously came towards him? "But you're not."

That comment made Mukuro pause into his place, his feet freezing against the ground, staring down at the small teen. His grasp tightened and for a moment, the illusion around him flickered.

"I have a feeling that…you're on my side and that the whole body possession thing is just a rouse now. Perhaps it wasn't in the beginning when we first met but now…now, it's something different." Tsuna, realizing quickly that Mukuro has stopped, pushed the other forward, keeping them walking. "I can tell, you can't hide a thing from me that easily anymore. Over my little trip, I've learned that anything my intuition tells me will always be right." They continued to walk and Tsuna knew they were heading towards the buses where Mukuro, or well Chrome, could catch a ride back home. "I'll tell you all about what happened. It'll probably be best if you did know. You see, it-"

"Well, I'm afraid that you'll have to tell me at a later date." Mukuro cut in, his voice trying to hide the disappointment and anger of being forced to leave. "Your pet Arcobaleno is coming after you. I guess I'll have to come by another time. Shame, I was so hoping to get some information."

Tsuna's eyes widened at that, glancing around for the hitman but saw no sight of him. Was Reborn hiding like usual?

"Kufufu, and since you're so willing to tell me what happened to you, perhaps I'll give you some information that you might like to know. Varia is coming here. They're currently finishing up a job for the Ninth before staying here in Namimori for a few days. Apparently, Belphegor wants to eat sushi at Yamamoto's restaurant. He seemed to have enjoyed it last time during the Arcobaleno trials." Mukuro huffed, folding his arms and pulled away from the brunet. Mist started to gather around him. "I'll come back at a later time, until then, bye bye Tsunayoshi."

And he was gone, leaving Chrome in his place. The female illusionist blinked her large eye and peered at Tsuna, hugging her bag closer to her body. "Boss…"

"Everything is fine but I'll need to talk to him again later on. Are you going to be okay? I mean, heading home by yourself?" They were a few feet from the station when they stopped. Chrome gave a nod before she ran off, wanting to catch the present bus before it left, while Tsuna stood at the entrance of the station for a few moments to watch the bus leave.

Turning around, he began his track home, well aware of the eyes that were now watching him from afar. He tried not to shiver, but in the end, he couldn't help it. As he got to the next street, he sighed, not entirely sure on how long Reborn was going to watch and follow him but he didn't say anything to call the other out. He didn't say anything at all and allowed the hitman to stay behind him.


	23. Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities." Christian Nestell Bovee

Tsuna stared out the window from his bedroom, watching as the puffy white clouds in the sky drifted by. Every now and then a bird would fly into his vision and then leave just as quickly. His ears could pick up the sounds of cars, people, birds, and much more by just sitting there with the window open. During that time, he even spotted Shoichi walking by and managed to catch his attention long enough to give a wave. No words were passed and the red-haired teen continued on his way, probably back to his own home. And with that, Tsuna went back to watching the clouds.

For some odd reason, he just felt like doing this, able to feel his body unwind. He didn't have many ways to calm down or even relax, what with how noisy and crazy his house got at times. Even when there were only a few minutes of silence, he enjoyed every bit of it, knowing that there might not be another chance to do something like this for a long time.

As he continued to stare, Mukuro's little warning echoed within his mind. Varia was coming; they were coming _here_ of all places. He just couldn't believe it. He didn't think he would see any of their present selves for a long time since the trials, excluding those moments from the future, so this was definitely a surprise. He was certain that whenever they arrived, the whole town was going to stay up with them, with all the noise they would make. Groaning at the thought, he just hoped that they weren't here to kill him. He liked living after all.

There was another thought that seemed to be surfacing in his head multiple times. Xanxus… 'I wonder if he remembers me…though I don't really want to meet him. He's worse then Verde. I'm actually more willing to meet with Byakuran than see him.' He could just imagine himself getting killed by the hot-tempered man for just saying the simplest thing.

During his thoughts, he realized that he wasn't sure _when_ they were arriving here in Namimori. He wanted to bang his head against the wall for not knowing such an important thing. Asking Reborn would be the best but that would completely give away the information he had received from Mukuro and not only that, he wasn't sure if Reborn actually knew about Varia's sudden arrival.

There was one thing Tsuna was certain about and that was that Reborn had the knowledge that he was conversing with Mukuro and not Chrome. After all, the hitman had come after him once he had gotten word, and Reborn wasn't stupid. When Tsuna got home, he had been expecting some demands and questions but he received nothing. It was so strange that it took him a moment to get his mind to start working and realize this. But even with such a bizarre behavior from the sun Arcobaleno, he was glad for it.

But sadly, that wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. Reborn had become quite distant with him recently. It was a slow process but Tsuna was starting to notice it more and more as the days went past. However, he was the only one that could see it happening before his very own eyes, no one else did. His friends were oblivious as usual…except for Hibari. But the cloud guardian acted the same as always, beating people up that didn't go with his laws and codes. Tsuna avoided him like a plague, never really going to talk to the other unless he desired getting killed in the process. Back on track, no one else noticed that Reborn wasn't with him as often as usual and Tsuna couldn't help but feel upset about that.

But he never questioned Reborn's sudden distance from him and that suited him fine, even with his depressing feelings. He didn't want the other to be on his back continuously, watching his every move in the distance. That would make him be on his guard every second, even at night. Regardless of that sudden distance, he knew in the back of his mind that Reborn was still watching him at times, even if it was less than normal; it was obvious to him. Those black eyes would stare at his head as if trying to read his deepest inner thoughts that he never allowed out or to show on his face. And he knew that Reborn was getting angry at him because he wouldn't say anything.

Now, Tsuna wasn't stupid either and he knew that Reborn was using some of the other Arcobaleno like Colonello and Lal to keep an eye out for him. He even managed to spot Fong one time during class when he took a glance out the window.

As for Skull, he would see the baby running by every now and then when he went out to pick up some groceries for his mom. He couldn't help but wonder if the cloud Arcobaleno was still being treated terribly by the others. Tsuna hoped not. But what could he do when he wasn't around? He knew that Reborn would never listen to him.

"Tsuna, lunch is ready!"

The brunet snapped his head up from his spot and glanced towards his closed door. He smiled. "Coming!" Immediately, he got up and made his way over towards his bedroom door, opening it to see Lambo and I-pin running by. He couldn't help but put a parental scowl on his lips at the sight. "Hey! No running! You'll trip if you do!"

"Bahaha! The great Lambo won't fall!" The lightning guardian shouted out happily, continuing to run regardless of the little warning he was given. I-pin chased after him, yelling out words to help control the irrepressible child. But her words went in one ear of Lambo's and out the other. She tilted her head downward and continued to chase after the other once more, knowing that it was pointless to try and contain the out-of-control child. But even knowing that, she continued to try.

Tsuna shook his head as he watched the two and stepped out, making his way down the stairs. As he peered into the kitchen, he could see the two kids running around the floor and gripping Nana's legs at the same time. He didn't understand how they could do that, much less his mother being able to handle them like that. He knew he couldn't. As much as he loved the little kids, they, especially Lambo, really knew how to drive him nuts. His mother really had to be a saint to be able to handle them so easily.

'But I guess in exchange, she's completely oblivious to everything else about this world.' Tsuna made a small chuckle. 'But I wouldn't give her up for anything.' It was true, Tsuna loved Nana regardless of all her silly problems. She was many times the light in his life, one of the brightest, despite all the darkness that seemed to be growing closer to him each and every day.

There were times when he looked behind him when he was walking home or in the classroom and he could see the blackness in the distance growing bigger and closer to him. No one else could see it; it was only there for him, only there for him to know about. Every now and then he could see an eye peering out at him, whispering words from a non-existent mouth. But he could never hear it. Other than that, it remained quiet and just followed him everywhere. The only time he didn't see it was when Nana was around. Perhaps her brightness and light drove it away and he was glad for that.

Now, Tsuna wasn't stupid. That cloud of darkness was only his imagination, however, in the back of his mind, he knew it existed there. It was waiting to swallow him up. It was a warning of some sort. When it arrived there, when it started appearing, he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember the first time he saw it. All he knew now was that it was there, watching and waiting. Though, he was certain it wasn't there until after his trip to the past and maybe after meeting up with Verde.

At times, he could honestly see the darkness growing in his very eyes when he took a look in his mirror. There were times when he noticed that his eyes weren't as bright as they used to be. But he never bothered with it and let it be.

To everyone else, he knew, he looked the same. That was why he was able to continue his life with his friends the same way. And anyway, the only friends that were close enough to see him were Gokudera and Yamamoto. Ryohei didn't come near him often enough to see the changes in him and Hibari was out of the question. Lambo rarely paid much attention to him unless it came to something he wanted or food.

As for Mukuro, he wasn't too sure on that one. Mukuro has always and will always remain a mystery and since Tsuna was in tuned with his surroundings, he sometimes felt like he was being watched by the illusionist. For Chrome, she was rarely around like Hibari. By the way, that reminded him, he needed to go by and see her to make sure she was getting enough to eat. Only God knows what Ken and Chikusa are feeding her or better phrased, what they are _not_ feeding her.

Pushing that into the back of his mind, he settled into a chair at the kitchen table, saying 'thanks' to Nana when she placed his food down on the surface. Meals were the same as Lambo and I-pin fought over their own food, and Nana just laughing at the scene. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, but there was one person that was missing.

"Hey, Mama, where's Reborn?"

"Oh, Reborn told me he was going out with some friends of his. I saw one of them earlier this morning when he was leaving. It was some baby like him and they left together." Nana smiled, helping I-pin in controlling Lambo from snatching other people's food. "Now, now, Lambo, there's plenty to go around."

"Oh, I see." Tsuna glanced towards the window, guessing that Reborn met up with the other Arcobaleno for a meeting. 'If I remember correctly, they had one a few days ago when I found Skull. What could they be talking about now?' He suddenly felt a shiver. 'Probably about me…and maybe Verde.'

Sighing, he went back to his meal, smiling softly as the rest of his family continued to mess around. Ah, the lighter days. He wouldn't mind if these days continued on for a while longer before the chaos, that the Varia would definitely bring, struck.

Finishing up his lunch, he placed his dishes away and made his way back up the stairs. There were a few video games he wanted to finish up playing before Reborn came back to beat him up for not doing his homework instead.


	24. Uncertainty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities." Christian Nestell Bovee

The Varia's arrival in Namimori created a ruckus among the city's population. For a week, there was pandemonium everywhere, throwing the normally serene place into complete chaos, and even more so when they were actually on the streets. Tsuna knew when they arrived-it was obvious when Squalo stormed up to Yamamoto during class, demanding for a fight, and then promptly destroyed half the classroom. Hibari wasn't too happy about that…at all. He went on a rampage after Varia, fighting and beating a couple of them to a bloody pulp in revenge for the school. During this time, Tsuna decided that it was best to stay out of sight lest Hibari's wrath turned on him instead.

Belphegor and Mammon were second to be seen after Squalo, since they enjoyed showing up at Yamamoto's home/restaurant for food. Tsuyoshi looked a little hesitant when he saw the two, but business was business, so he served his best, most expensive sushi. And apparently, they were good tippers. Well, Belphegor was; Mammon only tossed a few yen his way. Other than showing up at the restaurant, Belphegor would appear at the school and repeatedly fight Gokudera and Hibari, which only created more chaos in Namimori. Tsuna had a strong feeling that he wouldn't see any normal days for a while. Besides the school, when the group went through shopping centers, Lussuria could sometimes be heard squealing at the dresses that were showcased. Tsuna could only stare for a few seconds before running off, not wanting to stay any longer. That, and truth be told, the squealing was kinda…annoying. And there was also that little fact that Lussuria popped up in the woman's undergarments area too.

However, never once did Tsuna see Xanxus or that…other person. What was his name? Tsuna shrugged his shoulders without care. It probably wasn't that important in the first place if he didn't remember.

Regardless of the new appearances of his former enemies, everything to him was still considered peaceful. No one was trying to kill him or trying to get him into fights he had no wish to be part of. He just went on about with school without much care, just slightly worried about his friends who were often the prime targets for Varia. But so far, no one was really hurt. Yamamoto and Gokudera would come in now and then with a few scratches and bruises, but nothing serious. So regardless, everything was considered alright.

That was until Xanxus demanded Tsuna to come see him. Alone.

The message was delivered by that other person Tsuna couldn't really remember, the one with the mustache, and used umbrellas of all things as weapons. Reborn immediately stated a 'no' without any hesitation, and Leon turned into that usual green gun, aiming it at the man. His eyes narrowed dangerously and obviously, he wouldn't hesitate to shoot. To kill or to maim, it didn't matter.

"Why does Xanxus want to see Tsuna?" Reborn demanded, his eyes glaring, and settled himself onto Tsuna's shoulder so that he could get a better view of things. He didn't like where this was going, and didn't want Tsuna anywhere near that rampaging man. At least, not alone of all things.

As Levi and Reborn argued back and forth, Tsuna remained quiet. This was an opportunity. That single thought echoed repeatedly in his mind. It was the perfect chance. He wanted to know if Xanxus remembered him. Reborn obviously didn't, but what about others whom he had interacted during the past? Like his father and the Ninth. He wanted to see what happened to them.

"Reborn, I think I should go see Xanxus."

The two in front froze and turned to look at him as if he had grown another head. The hitman's expression quickly cleared up and growled, immediately kicking the brunet to the wall, before back flipping in the air and landing perfectly on the ground. "Absolutely not! I won't allow you to meet up with Xanxus of all people by yourself! That man will kill you! At least bring one of your guardians with you as a safeguard."

Tsuna hissed in pain, rubbing the area he had been kicked at, and glanced up with one eye closed to peer at the sun Arcobaleno. "Reborn, that hurts." He slowly stood up and sighed. He looked nervous under Reborn's harsh stare despite the fact that the baby only came up to his knees. "I'll be fine. I think I should meet up with Xanxus."

"Dame-Tsuna, it's too dangerous!"

'How unusual. Normally, he wants me to go everywhere without any arguments. Why can't he be like this when it comes to me being part of the mafia?' Tsuna mentally chided to himself. He took a deep breath and kneeled down so that he could get a better look at the other. "Come on, Reborn. This is unusual of you. Don't you normally tell me to go out? Generally regardless of what I really, really wish."

Reborn sneered at that and flicked his fedora up. Levi remained at the doorway, unsure of what to do, and continued to stand there. Stepping forward with almost every motion to send Tsuna flying again, the sun Arcobaleno spoke. "This is different. You're going in alone into their territory. No one will be able to protect you if anything happened."

"Come on, Reborn. Put some faith in me."

"Since when did I have faith in you?"

"Ehhhh? Come on!" Tsuna grumbled, his so-called pride deflating. But he didn't mind the harsh treatment; it had lightened up the mood slightly, compared to before. "Xanxus asked for me to come in alone, I don't think he'd be really happy if someone accompanied me."

This made Reborn growl dangerously under his breath. This was like bringing a lamb into a home of ravenous wolves. He didn't want Tsuna to go, but what could he do? He had to obey. Regardless of what happened in the past, Xanxus was still Nono's son, and adopted or blood-related, he was higher in rank. And Xanxus wanted to see Tsuna, but if Tsuna didn't go, the Varia leader would either come looking himself by sending enemies or take that disappearance as a cowardly act and try to attack again. As he observed Tsuna leave through the door to follow Levi into a black car, he felt like this wasn't the first time he had to watch Tsuna leave and feel so powerless all at the same time.

* * *

Tsuna glanced around the furnished hotel that was far too stylish for his tastes. No, it was just too much. He could _never_ settle into something like this. There were statues and pictures frames that looked like they had cost millions of yen and he refused be near either of them. He didn't even dare touch one, just in case it broke since he knew there was no way he had the money to pay for it, not in a million years.

Levi stood next to him, glaring at him as usual, muttering words under his breath. He was completely aware that the brunet could hear him clearly. Tsuna knew that it was just best to ignore the other, and tuned him out completely. He spotted Belphegor and Mammon settled on a couch, lazing around. The blond had his legs propped up onto the table, crossed, and was watching a large flat screen TV that was attached to the wall. Some movie was on but Tsuna didn't recognize it at all and didn't understand it since it was in a different language. Mammon was settled on the other side of the couch on top of a pillow and seemed to be drinking something. The one person Tsuna didn't see at all was Squalo and normally this man was the easiest to spot, or well, _hear_ among the group of five.

As he arrived at a pair of doors, Tsuna went forward on his own, Levi remaining where he was at. The metal hinges didn't squeak as they opened and he stepped inside, taking notice of the mess that was within. Tsuna twitched, the room looked worse than his own bedroom, and that was saying something! Most of the items looked like they had been thrown around and the room reeked of alcohol and smoke. Broken chairs were upside down, cabinets were in shambles on the ground, and holes dotted the walls and floor. He eyed a couple of spots that looked like burn marks and sighed. He should have expected this.

Meanwhile, Xanxus was lounging on a sofa chair that was still luckily in its correct position, his legs crossed on a table. A glass of wine was in his hands, the bottle close by. Tsuna came closer to the older man, well aware that Xanxus' eyes were staring straight at him, peering into his very body. Tsuna couldn't help but flinched a little at the gaze but tried to keep strong, even though he was starting to shiver.

"Sawada…" Xanxus growled, his grip on his glass tightening, almost to the point that it was about to shatter. But he didn't budge an inch from his spot, still settled comfortably in his chair. "It appears that even you can follow a simple demand." He brought his glass up and took a long sip, almost draining the entire contents. When he pulled the cup away, his upper lip was tinted red, stained from the wine.

Tsuna got closer and settled into the couch on the opposite side, his back straight. "Well, you did ask. Reborn didn't like it all that much and complained but eventually he let me go."

Xanxus raised an eyebrow at that. "That baby actually let you go? That's a new one. I'm quite surprised."

"I thought he was going to follow me here and stay in the room with us or get one of my guardians to follow but I guess not. I thought that he would even hide himself among the furniture." Tsuna felt himself relaxing slightly but not too much, knowing that Xanxus has a temper to watch out for. A wrong move could send the other flaring. His eyes trailed over the room slowly, but there wasn't much difference from the front area. To be honest, this sort of place made him feel so unnerved. It was like he didn't belong here and he probably didn't. All he wanted to do was leave right now. "Xanxus, why did you call me here? I doubt it was really to talk. You hate me after all."

The Varia leader didn't answer and reached over to grab his bottle of wine, pouring himself another glass after finishing the rest. He swished the ruby-colored liquid inside, watching it swirling around inside. Tsuna shivered at the gaze Xanxus was giving towards the wine; it was predatory and dangerous. He could feel a dark aura starting to grow up behind the older man.

"Sawada, I heard you allowed yourself to get kidnapped by one of the babies. What the _fuck_ were you thinking?" The Varia leader slapped his fist down on the table beside him, snapping it in half at the force. There was an orange glow appearing in his left hand, power accumulating there. "Just how fucked up are you?"

Tsuna blinked and then blinked again. "W-W-What? Y-You called me here to ask that?" He found that odd. Why would Xanxus care? Surely the other was trying to kill him so he could take Tsuna's position. He would never openly admit that he was cornered. Tsuna froze. Was Xanxus concerned for him? Was that even possible? Sure, they were pretty close in the past where Xanxus had called him cute, but really? How about now? Tsuna tilted his head. No, it didn't seem possible. Going through his thoughts, he contemplated numerous reasons as to why Xanxus would say something like this. He came up with almost nothing. Only one thing seemed to surface, it was that Xanxus cared about Vongola and if anything were to happen to the heir then it would be troublesome. That would make sense, right?

Xanxus didn't answer his question, Tsuna blinked again. "I was trying to get Verde on my side. He's a powerful ally. Even you must agree to that. But I'm afraid that he's only _my_ ally, not the Vongola's. He refuses to work for a mafia group, even though Vongola will technically be financing him."

"Tch, you're a fool. How idiotic can you get?" Xanxus growled, sneering angrily. "That trash would never listen to anyone. He never did. Do you know how long Vongola has been trying to get his cooperation? We've long given up. It's pointless to bother."

"Then perhaps this time it'll be different." Tsuna closed his eyes and turned to the side, looking away from the other man. "Who knows about this time?"

Xanxus grumbled under his breath but didn't say anything else. He folded his arms, still holding his glass cup. He stared straight at the teen with an eyebrow raised, observing every move carefully. There was something different in the way the brunet spoke, like he was more confident, more mature. Xanxus twitched his right eye. That couldn't be possible but the evidence before him was undeniable. "Who the hell are you? You're… different then that Sawada brat from before."

The brunet flinched slightly, scouting back in the chair. "Just a change of mind. Nothing more. Is there anything else you needed to know?"

Xanxus didn't answer.

'Well, guess I better ask this while I still have the chance. Let's hope that nothing bad happens.' Tsuna took a deep breath and released it. "By the way, do you know anything by the name of 'Yoshi'?" Tsuna's eyes narrowed slightly at that question as it passed his lips. He wanted to see if it was still possible, to see if anyone else besides the Arcobaleno remembered him.

"Yoshi? Who's that?" Xanxus raised an eyebrow, confusion evident with his expression.

The brunet couldn't help but blink in surprise. So, there was that. Even those outside the Arcobaleno didn't remember either. "Ah, I see. Nevermind." This was another thing he would have to tell Verde. Things just weren't adding up. But Verde was the genius, not him.

The Varia leader didn't go further into it, drinking the last drops that remained in his glass. His scars were still apparent, as always, but he was currently calm…for now.

Another idea sparked inside Tsuna's mind as he thought of the past. Wasn't there a cat? Lenard, right? He remembered giving the feline over to the other during the past. Did Xanxus actually take care of the poor animal or did he throw him away? "One last question. Do you by chance have a cat named Lenard?"

This _finally_ got a reaction.

Xanxus smashed the glass that was in his hand, sending the particles to the carpet below. His eyes narrowed dangerously and he growled. "How the hell do you know about that?" He jumped up to his feet, and reached forward to snag Tsuna's collar to yank the poor teenager closer. "No one should know about his existence, not even that loudmouth trash. How the fuck did you find out?" He lifted the brunet higher and abruptly slammed him down onto the table. Tsuna cried out at that, surprised by the sudden attack and squeezed his eyes shut. His entire back stung painfully and he hissed at the sensation. He couldn't see clearly when he tried to look around, white spots in his eyes that were fluttering around, and he felt dizzy for a second before closing his eyes again. When he opened them for a second time, blinking back tears, he was staring directly at the older man, whose red eyes were burning dangerously, and Tsuna couldn't help but shiver.

"I-If you release me, I might…be a-able to say something," the brunet spoke carefully, knowing that if he said the wrong words, he just might end up dead or beaten up into pulp. He wasn't sure on which would be better. Slowly, the grip relaxed, but Xanxus didn't let go. Tsuna knew better than to say the truth at this moment. After all, it wouldn't make much sense to Xanxus without having to explain a whole bunch of others things, and there was an extremely high chance that Xanxus might just tighten his current grip enough to crush his windpipe. Tsuna knew he was treading on eggshells that were mostly already cracked. "Reborn told me. I was just curious to know if it was true."

It was a lie, but it was more believable than the truth.

Xanxus growled and pulled away, leaving the teen on the table, coughing to regain a normal breathing pattern. The older man stormed away, kicking the couch that the brunet was sitting in before which created a dent in the wall. Tsuna watched as that happened and slowly stood back up. Carefully, he edged away from the other, sneaking towards the door to escape before Xanxus decided to turn his attention back onto him. There was shouting and more items getting broken. He was definitely unwelcome now, yet he managed to slip out unnoticed by the other.

Closing the door behind him carefully and as silently as possible, he sighed heavily, the tension that was on his shoulders was now gone. He had survived the beast. Thank god. Now he just had to deal with his burning back. He was just lucky that nothing was broken or bleeding. That would be something really tough to explain to Reborn and the others. Something he'd rather not do. As he turned around to face the hallway, blond hair immediately blocked his view. It took him a few seconds to realize that hair could only belong to one person in this room.

He slammed himself against the door, mildly cursing to himself as he forgotten about his already damaged back. Blinking back more tears, he stared at Belphegor, who was leaning forward with a large grin.

"Ushishishi, looks like the peasant survived the boss's wrath."

Tsuna twitched and glanced around behind the blond. He could see Levi on one side, glaring at him, that of which he ignored, and then to Mammon. The illusionist was still sitting on the couch, continuing to watch that TV program from before.

"Y-Yeah, apparently so. Though you might not want to go in there now since Xanxus is breaking things."

Bel tilted his head. "Boss is angry? And you got out unscratched?" He looked around the brunet's clothes to see if there were any tears or scorched marks. There was nothing that he could spot with the clothing in the way. He stepped closer, invading Tsuna's personal bubble, and yanked up the brunet's shirt. The sky guardian couldn't help but let out a loud shriek at that, even though he was well aware of the glances he got from those that were still in the room. The cold air made him shiver and he didn't like the looks he was getting from everyone, especially from the blond. Why did Varia have such predatory-like people? With his back pressed against the door, Bel wasn't able to see it, which worked just fine for him. "Ehhh? Nothing?"

Tsuna immediately yanked down his shirt, a red tint decorating his cheeks.

That didn't deter the Varia Storm Guardian though. He made a creepy grin and placed his hands onto Tsuna's sides, letting his fingers creep up towards the brunet's back. The younger teen managed to prevent those hands from touching his throbbing skin and tried to back himself further away. Levi grumbled, muttering words under his breath from the scene he was watching. Bel just threw a few knives his way to shut him up before turning his attention back to his little captive.

"W-What are you doing?" Tsuna screeched, not liking where this was going. Was he seriously getting _molested_? By Bel? What the hell was wrong with his life?

"I want to see. The little kitten must have been hurt somewhere. Ushishishi, there's no way the peasant could escape from the boss unharmed especially when boss is having a fit." Bel got closer to the point that Tsuna could feel the other's breath on his cheek. He blushed at that, feeling extremely uncomfortable at the moment.

'What should I do?' Tsuna thought to himself. 'Should I punch him? No, no, no, that won't work. He'll probably kill me. Distract him? He's too smart for that. Try to slip away? No, no… Hope and pray that some kind of divine intervention will save me? That's never really worked… Nope…' The brunet paled as each thought came to a terrible conclusion. What else was there to do? 'Oh, well, there's _that_ … but I don't want to do that! What if he attacks me! Ah, but maybe he'll be distracted and shocked enough to allow me to escape.'

Peering at the elevator that was right behind, he eyed the numbers and heard a familiar ding. Well, what did he have to lose? He shouldn't have thought that. There was a lot to lose. Glancing back at Bel, who was much closer to him, he decided. What the heck. Ignoring the other's face, he leaned forward and let their lips touch for a mere second before ducking and raced off towards the elevator doors.

Bel froze, clearly not expecting that and didn't move for a second as he tried to gain sense of what had happened to him. Tsuna spent that time running and as the elevator doors opened, he jumped inside just as Squalo stepped out. The white-haired man shouted in surprised and watched as the elevator doors closed, seeing the brunet click the buttons rapidly like his life depended on it. And it probably did, considering what he had just done.

With a 'what-the-fuck' expression on his face, Squalo glanced back to see Levi staring at the wall and Mammon watching TV. But for Bel… the blond was still standing in his spot, a little tint of red on his checks.

"Voiiii?" Squalo yelled. "What the hell just happened? Why the hell was that little pipsqueak here?"

Immediately, the Belphegor turned around and started racing past Squalo like a blur, heading towards the emergency staircase doors. The rest of the members could only stare in question at such a strange action. Apparently, they hadn't seen what Bel had experienced just moments before. Mammon hummed to himself for a second before turning off the TV and muttered a few words to his partner before floating off to follow.

Things were getting interesting…


	25. Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone." Orson Welles

Tsuna knew that one day he was going to die. It was obvious due to the endless amount of chaos that occurred in his life. But there were times when things just really got out of hand. Like now. The moment the elevator doors open, he literally sprung out of the metal box, only to stop for a moment a few feet forward, well aware of the curious stares he was getting from the crowd of people that were trying to move around him. Tsuna took a deep breath, calming his racing mind, and tried to think for a moment. If he had a crazy blood-thirsty manic chasing after him, what should he do?

Run the fuck away…

No, no, he had to get that thought out of his mind. There _had_ to be better options. There had to be. Thinking a little more deeply, he quickly glanced around the room, taking in his surroundings as fast as possible as time was against him, and noticed a half opened door towards an office in the corner of the entrance area of the hotel. Tsuna nodded to himself as if telling himself that he had made the right decision and raced over there, entering and closing the door slightly so that he could still see what was going on the other side. Luckily for him, there was no one else inside and he hid inside for only a few moments before he saw a flash of yellow blur down the stairs and stop into the middle of the hotel entrance hallway. Belphegor was standing there curiously, glancing around the place as he turned his head, and then ran out the glass sliding doors, entering the outside world. Tsuna could still hear that familiar laughter echoing inside his mind as the teenager left his vision.

Releasing the breath he had been holding, Tsuna collapsed to the ground and sighed, shoulders relaxing at the fact that he had somehow managed to escape his doom. It had been nothing more than just pure dumb luck that Belphegor had went a different route than his own and hadn't really checked the surrounding area. If the blond had actually decided to look around more thoroughly then he would be found eventually and who knows what would have happened to him. He shivered at the thought.

Waiting for a little bit more to give time for Varia storm guardian to wander further away, Tsuna snuck out of the office, still unnoticed by the workers of the hotel and carefully made his way towards the back of the hotel. No way was he going to go through the front and chance himself getting caught by the blond. That was almost suicidal. He could almost see those little knives flying towards his head, claiming it.

Passing through the various hallways, he eventually came up to a door that led out to a side entrance to the parking lot. Tsuna took a deep breath and prayed to all those above that Belphegor was not, by any chance, waiting for him outside. He opened the door carefully, able to hear the creaking of the hinges, and poked his head out. There was no one around, he was free. At last. Tsuna sighed in relief at that.

"So you managed to escape _him_ of all people."

Or not.

Tsuna mentally cursed to himself, wondering what kind of god above hated him. He should probably know better than to think he was in the clear when there was all sorts of people around, just waiting to get their grabby little hands on him. Slowly turning around, he glanced over Mammon who was floating in the air with his little halo thing above his head going in a circle. Tsuna sighed, why him…

"It was just dumb luck that he went a different way than I did." The brunet took a few steps away, not sure what the Arcobaleno wanted with him. He hadn't really done anything to catch Mammon's attention before, not that he really wanted to, despite the little memory problem that was going on. "So, yeah, I'll be going now. Reborn will probably kill me if I don't go back soon. So um… Bye?"

Tsuna waved for a second before taking off, racing away from the floating baby who remained in his spot. The brunet didn't want to know if Mammon was following him nor cared since he had more important people to run from, mainly a blonde whose name started with a B and perhaps another baby whose name started with an R. Oh, yes, those two would probably kill him multiple times.

* * *

Tsuna had to say that the past few days were _anything_ but quiet. He had been repeatedly lectured (tortured) by Reborn for leaving like that to Varia's place. But he managed to survive and come out in one piece despite all the bruising and aches he suffered, no missing limbs. It was better than the alternative. He had already expected such a reaction from the hitman, tormenting him for actually going. However, he hadn't been expecting the other one.

Belphegor had somehow taken their little encounter as a game and was finding all odd sorts of times to chase after him for no good reason. Whether it was at school, which definitely gained the attention of his guardians and classmates, or at home where crashes could often be heard along with some screams. The blond enjoyed swinging on those wires of his and crashing into windows to scare the living crap out of him then would just laugh that crackle of his and chase after him when he ran.

Whenever his friends were around, Gokudera and Yamamoto instantly attacked, trying to defend him, thinking it was a threat, but Belphegor just dodged around the two and came after Tsuna only, who normally ran away the moment he noticed the other. There was no time for questions from his friends, he just continued to run around the school with a crazy blond after his tail, dodging the knives. He had a pretty strong suspicion that the other was enjoying this but didn't think much on it.

"Seriously Tsuna, what did you do to get him of all people to chase you around? It looks like some kind of game like tag." Yamamoto laughed, though there was a bit of an edge in his voice. Tsuna knew he was concerned about his safety.

"Jyudaime, is he that bothering to you? I will make sure that the next time he appears will be his last!"

Tsuna sighed at that, exhausted. Once more he had been chased around the school for two hours, not only by Belphegor but by Hibari as well, saying that he was disturbing the peace. It was like death was really behind him and he wanted nothing more than to disappear from the two of them. "I don't know. It started ever since I visited the Varia."

Gokudera stopped. "You went to see them?"

"Yeah, a few days ago. After that, he just started coming after me." No need to tell them the real reason why. He could still feel the kiss burning on his lips whenever he thought about it. It was such an odd thing, Belphegor was the only person around his age that had ever kissed him.

"You shouldn't have done that, Jyudaime! It's too dangerous! You should have left me to do the job as your right hand man!" The silver-haired teen puffed out his chest to try and make himself look tough. It failed though since Tsuna obviously saw through him and Yamamoto just laughed at the antics.

"It's alright. Everything turned out fine." If one didn't get almost chocked to death by Xanxus himself… "I mean, everything will turn out fine. Nothing bad has happened so far, thank goodness."

"Well, if you say so, but next time, let us know that you're visiting them. I want to see Squalo." Yamamoto laughed, placing his hands up above his head, and grinned.

"Stupid baseball idiot!"

Tsuna decided to zone out when the argument between the two occurred. It wasn't anything new. He had more concerning matters to worry about…like that sneaky laughter he could hear a little ways. 'Looks like he's back…' The brunet groaned, he was so tired and his muscles were sore from running everyday. He could hear Reborn's little snarky comments that his was actually good for him. 'Ah, I'm starting to hallucinate if I can imagine Reborn's lectures. That's not good.'

That "Ushishishi" laughter got closer. The moment he waved goodbye to his friends, Tsuna turned towards the direction of the laughter and pouted, waiting for the other to randomly pop up. He didn't have to wait long as the blond jumped up and down from a brick wall and landed right next to the brunet, his usual grin on his face.

Tsuna groaned and looked the other over, checking over the clothes the blond was normally wearing. The crown was in its usual spot on Belphegor's head, how it remained there throughout the chaos was beyond him. "Again?"

"Ushishishi, the prince enjoys this game."

"Of course. Can we please not do it today? I'm really tired."

Belphegor looked over the brunet for a moment, his grin gone for a second, and Tsuna saw those blue eyes hidden underneath those bangs. "The prince has decided to follow the peasant along. You should be honored."

"I…see." Honored…right. Tsuna wasn't sure how this was going to go with his mom much less with Reborn. He just hoped that nothing bad would happen…like his wishes ever came true. As he started to trek home, he was well aware of the presence behind him, following right next to him. If he didn't feel like he was going to die at any moment, he wouldn't have minded Belphegor's presence. And to think that the other was closely related in age wise. Belphegor was only a year older than him but lived a completely different life and even had a twin, _had_.

As they got closer to the house, Tsuna didn't know how he was supposed to introduce Belphegor to the others at home. He could just see how that conversation would go. "Oh, hi Mom, I brought a homicidal mass-murdering killer from an assassination squad called Varia home with me today. Hope you don't mind." Tsuna groaned, like that was going to happen.

Deciding that it was best to get there when he did, Tsuna opened the front door, announcing to everyone inside that he was home. There were a few calls back and he smiled at the warmth of the greeting. When Belphegor came in, he knew that it was probably best to immediately introduce the other teen to Nana and just hope that everything will be okay.

"Hey, Mom, I have someone with me." Tsuna peeked into the kitchen where he could see his mom with the other children, cooking a snack for them as they ran around her feet. Nana turned to him with a smile before noticing their new guest. Meanwhile, Belphegor stepped further into the room, chuckling, and leaned against the door frame to look over the group of people.

"My, who is this?" Nana smiled, looking at the blond before turning to Lambo who yelled out for attention. "Someone from school?"

"Not exactly. He's not from my school," Tsuna admitted, putting his school bag down to the ground, far away from the kids. He looked around the room, searching for Reborn but didn't spot the other anywhere. "Where's Reborn?"

"Right here." Something hard hit the top of Tsuna's head and he automatically shrunk down at the pressure, managing to catch himself before tumbling over. Reborn smirked at what he had done before rotating to Belphegor with those dark mischievous eyes of his. "I see the Varia storm guardian is here with you. You've been busy, Dame-Tsuna."

"What do you mean by that, Reborn? And he followed me home…well, around." Tsuna sighed, peering up however best he could in his situation. He glanced at Belphegor, who continued to grin like usual, and wandered what was going to happen next. It was a little tense in the room but he sensed nothing wrong. "Reborn?"

"Well, it doesn't matter, he's welcome to stay for today if he likes."

"Hiee!" Tsuna cried out only to be interrupted soon after when the sun Arcobaleno yanked on that soft caramel-colored hair painfully. Instantly, Tsuna yelped in agony and almost cried at how badly it had hurt. "Reborn, that hurts!"

"So?" Reborn smirked and did another pull, resulting in another cry. When he got enough of torturing the brunet, he turned back to Belphegor. "And what are you here for?"

"The prince wants to return that kiss."

Tsuna blinked at that, eyes wide. This made those in the same room pause and turn to stare. "What?"

"The prince wants to return that kiss," he repeated and with that, Belphegor leaned forward and pressed their lips together, not caring about the so called audience that was in there with them. Tsuna's breath was immediately taken away at that and his honey-colored eyes widened in surprise, well aware of the sensation of that burning feeling on his lips. Nana gasped in the background, almost dropping a plate in shock. I-pin and Lambo could only stare, not sure what was going on while Reborn looked at the scene with a dangerous look in his eyes after jumping off Tsuna's head.

What seemed like hours were seconds as the kiss broke and Tsuna felt his entire face turning bright red as realization began to set on what had just happened to him. The numbing feeling didn't go away and he automatically reached up to touch it, his lips puffy. And then he screeched, "Hieeeee!"

Belphegor chuckled, hands on his waist, and grinned, looking over the other happily. Tsuna couldn't get his redness to go down and eventually fainted, his body tumbling down to the ground from shock. He heard some cries and before he blacked out, he saw a floating figure in the background, recognizing that indigo pacifier as it glowed in resonance with the yellow one on Reborn.


	26. Fade to Black

Tsuna wasn't sure what would happen when he came to from his little fainting spell. He had been expecting a lot of things, many that were unpleasant. He wasn't even sure if he really wanted to wake up in the first place, afraid of what might and would happen to him. So when he slowly opened his eyes, he peered around the room cautiously, searching to see if anyone was around.

His ears picked up noises coming from the kitchen where he could hear the kids running around and fighting and his mother humming a small tune. Taking further glances along the room, noticing that he was still in the living room lying on one of the couches, he came across a little figure sitting on a couch on the opposite side of the room. Narrowing his eyes to concentrate, he picked out the dark clothes and markings on the baby's face. 'Mammon?'

"I should charge you for making me wait like this," the Varia mist guardian snarled, holding a small cup with some kind of liquid inside. Tsuna figured it must have come from his mother. As he continued to look, he didn't spot Reborn or Belphegor anywhere close by nor felt their presence either. The Mist Arcobaleno huffed, taking another sip of his drink before speaking. "If you're looking for Reborn, he went out, and Belphegor had to return for a mission or he'll get in trouble with Boss."

"Oh…" Then why was Mammon still here? Tsuna thought to himself, turning to peer up at the ceiling, and stretched his limbs to get the soreness out. Sitting up, he listened as his bones creaked and looked over when he heard his mother coming into the room from the kitchen, wearing an apron and holding a spatula.

Nana had a bright smile on her face and it only brightened more when she saw her child awake. "Oh, Tsu-kun, you're awake. You made Mama very worried." She pouted and walked over, checking up on her darling son, making sure that everything was okay, before patting him on the head. "Dinner will be ready in a few more minutes, okay. I'll call you when it's ready."

"Sure. Thanks."

Then her smile got a little wider. "Oh, and Tsu-kun, if you like men better, I shall love you forever. Mama always believed you looked cuter than any girl out there." Ignoring the screech from her son, she continued to squeal, going into her own little dreamland. "Mama isn't upset that she won't be able to have grandchildren at all, as long as you adopt. And she has plenty of chances of grandchildren with the kids living here."

"Mom!" Tsuna had his jaw dropping down in shock, a deep red blush spreading across his face and tried to stutter out words but none seemed to connect. He could only remain silent as his mother continued on.

"Now, Tsu-kun, make sure to bring your boyfriends home from now on. I would love to meet them. Oh, my little darling is growing up." With that, she squealed one more time, red hearts floating up from her body, and ran back into the kitchen to finish cooking. Tsuna was just left on the couch, staring into space, a little pale but still had that bright flush on his cheeks.

"Wait…" Tsuna muttered to himself as realization hit him. " _Boyfriends_? Mom!" He was ignored and flopped back down onto the couch, grumbling in silence and horror all at once. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Tsuna sighed, grumbling to himself. Maybe Nana was one of those yaoi fangirls… The brunet blinked, oh, how that sounded so correct.

He eventually remembered that he had an audience that was still there and turned to Mammon with curious eyes.

"So…um… Why are you still here?"

With that, the mist Arcobaleno tilted his head and stood up, smirking to himself. "No reason." Mammon continued to sip his drink slowly before walking over and placing the empty cup onto a table. Tsuna wiggled his nose and leaned forward, disbelief shining in his eyes. "But if you really want to know, you'll have to pay me for that information."

Immediately, the brunet pulled back, knowing fully well that the amount that Mammon wanted was so not worth the information. That and he hardly had any money in the first place, he was poor, nothing could fix that. He was amazed that with the amount of destruction to this house, they were still able to afford everything. And so he sighed depressingly, shoulders slumping downward with an air of defeat surrounding him.

"However for the tea, I shall say this," Mammon muttered under his breath, looking over the teenager from underneath the hood. Those upside-down triangles was the only thing that was revealed beneath the darkness, not even the eyes were shown. "Be careful the next few days. It would be annoying if you were to die."

"Huh?" Tsuna blinked, tilting his head once more in confusion. Why would it be annoying? Shouldn't it be a good thing since then there would be no one stopping Xanxus from becoming Vongola Decimo, right? Before he could question the baby, Mammon vanished into mist, disappearing before Tsuna's very eyes. This just left the brunet with his mouth hanging open about to speak and after a few moments, collapsed back onto the couch, lips pouting.

Peering up towards the kitchen, he wondered if he should try and correct his mom about what was going on, but decided soon after that it wasn't worth it. If she looked so happy for this little misunderstanding, why would he bother twisting that emotion around? He wanted to see her smiling and being happy. He nodded to himself, he would let her continue believing it, though, she was probably correct in the boyfriends department. Reborn was his boyfriend or lover, but at this moment… Tsuna sighed, not wanting to dwell any further into those memories. Though they were meant to be happy, all they brought now was unwanted pain in the present.

Standing up, he headed towards the kitchen with a small smile so that no one would be aware of his inner thoughts.

* * *

Tsuna had a bad feeling about today, he didn't know why nor understood as to why he felt this way. It was just something he felt within his very soul, his intuition whispering words within his mind.

As he sat on the floor within his room, he took a glance at his window to the outside world where he could see the darkening of the sky at every passing minute. Gray clouds were shifting across the sky, covering up that once bright blue and the sun that gave light to the world below. Instead, lightning flashed above repeatedly, bringing that white flash into his room and thunder roared soon after, rattling the window with its force. It was probably going to rain really soon, Tsuna thought to himself, as he continued to stare into the clouds.

Eventually, Tsuna turned to his homework that was scattered across his table and sighed in dejection. There was no way he was going to be able to finish this anytime soon. The numbers on the papers looked so foreign to him and he stared, just hoping that it would all come together by some miracle. But no, it didn't. The numbers just remained as they were, glued to the paper, and mocked him with their complexity.

Grumbling to himself, he shoved the cursed thing aside and flopped down onto the floor, turning so he could easily stare up at the window. The sensation of foreboding that told him something bad was going to happen kept pestering him repeatedly, and he didn't like it at all. He shivered when that cloud of darkness that trailed him everywhere seemed to have moved closer to him but didn't fret over it much, letting his imaginary shadow follow. He had noticed it earlier in the week as it shifted ever so nearer to him, slowly, ever so slowly…

Closing his eyes, he decided that perhaps taking a small nap might be nice, something to relax his crazy nerves. He knew that Reborn had gone out earlier a few hours ago, probably to investigate on something, but regardless, it meant some free time to the brunet. There was no Spartan tutor banging him upside the head multiple times and demanding him to do crazy things just to satisfy his humor. It was wonderful…except that stupid feeling didn't go away and it kept bugging him repeatedly. He grumbled and turned over, using his left arm for a pillow, and stared ahead towards the wall.

Things had been somewhat normal despite what had happened with Belphegor, no one but those that saw what had happened knew what had occurred. He certainly didn't want his friends finding about, who knows what they would do in revenge. Tsuna could just see Gokudera running after the blonde, cursing the other out and throwing those dynamites of his, and Yamamoto laughing behind, still thinking that the sticks were fireworks. He really hoped that his rain guardian would wake up soon and see reality. What surprised him the most was that Reborn hadn't done anything about the kiss. It felt odd for the hitman to not take advantage of the situation especially when it came to humiliating him.

Despite lying down for a good thirty minutes, he couldn't get himself to fall asleep. It just wasn't coming to him at all, but he didn't bother to get up either, he didn't want to yet. It felt more comfortable being more down to the floor.

"Tsuna?"

The brunet lifted his head up at the sound of his name, glancing over towards his bedroom door. So much for some rest, he thought to himself. Crawling over, he opened it so he could hear better and made a quick reply to let his mother know he had heard.

"Tsuna, could you head to the store for me? I was halfway making something when Lambo accidently pushed off the remaining eggs. Could you get some for me?"

Heading down the stairs, Tsuna peered over at his mother, watching her run around the kitchen with the kids, smiling the entire time. He smirked at the sight and stepped closer, welcoming the familiar loudness of the room. He enjoyed seeing his mother happy, it was something he would always make sure of. "Eggs, right?"

"Yep."

"No problem. I should probably head out right now before I get caught in the storm." Tsuna glanced outside where the clouds were threatening looking, thickening up for the heavy downpour, and flashes of lightning continued to go across the sky. Nana paused for a moment and turned to gaze as well, not liking how those clouds were looking. She bit her bottom lip and looked at her son in worry.

"Make sure to take an umbrella and a jacket, okay?" She followed Tsuna out to the front door, looking a little worried, and watched as her son put everything together and on. The brunet smiled softly, looking at his mother, and stood up, tightening his jacket around him, before opening the door to the outside world. The rain was just starting to sprinkle, its little drops revealing itself in the cement by the darkening the color. "Now I want you to hurry back, you hear? I don't want you to head out to the arcades or anything like that. And if you get into any trouble or get stuck because of the rain, I want you to call me. I'll pick you up."

"Yeah, I know. I don't want to stay outside any more than I need to." Tsuna nodded, agreeing with his mother, and stepped out of the house, closing the door behind him. He watched as his mom's face disappeared behind and turned back to the road. The feeling within him spiked tremendously the moment he left home. Why did he feel like he shouldn't have left? That he shouldn't be coming outside…

Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, he continued a head, walking down the empty road, no life seen anywhere. He shivered at that, not liking being alone in such a dark place, Reborn's teaching coming back to him. As he continued to saunter, the rain started to pick up slowly, the pounding hitting his umbrella repeatedly which dulled out the surrounding sounds. A car or two would pass by him after getting to the main road, speeding down without a care. Lights were on from various stores and houses, and he used it as guidance to make his way down, careful to go around large puddles and try to back away whenever a car drove by so that he wouldn't get splashed.

Tsuna twitched, feeling a shiver run down his spine, and immediately glanced around the surrounding area. He felt as if something…or someone was watching him and those eyes were really burning painfully into his body. He suppressed the need to itch the spot, his fingers twitching instead. Peering around, he searched for anything that might pinpoint to his feeling but there was nothing around. That was until he saw something pass by his eyes in a dark alleyway, running from one side to the other. Tsuna almost jumped at that and immediately quickened his pace to get somewhere safer, someplace away from the open area.

Running into the grocery store, he felt the relief of being out from the cold and from those eyes. The foreboding sensation had lightened up, not as strong as before, and he relaxed, his shoulders slumping down to get all the tension out. The warmth of the building ran over his body, feeling really good compared to the cold weather outside, and headed deeper into the store to the cold department for the eggs. Picking up a carton of twelve, he went to the front where the cashier was at, who was lying to the side looking quite bored out of his mind, messing with his phone, and was chewing bubblegum. When Tsuna came closer, the person seemed to slowly lift himself up and ring the item, telling the brunet how much the total is. The moment Tsuna paid, he felt that familiar shiver run down his spine again from those same eyes from outside and stopped himself from wanting to run back into the store and hide within the back.

The brunet stared out the grocery store windows when he was handed his shopping bag, that terrible sensation throbbing within his mind. He didn't want to go outside, not where he knew something bad would happen. The rain didn't lighten up either, instead it continued on, flooding the streets and covering the world in a wet shower. The street lights were on, some flickering, others off, and the roads remained deserted of life, not even an animal ran by in this storm. Tsuna picked up his bag and sighed heavily, knowing he would need to leave in order to get home and it was just perfect that he had forgotten to take his cellphone with him. He could only hope that he wouldn't hit any trouble along the way; he could only hope.

As the glass doors slide open, he stepped out of the dry warmth and back into the cold rain, pulling out the umbrella to protect himself and the goods. Rain pounded above, running off and dripping from the umbrella ends in streams. He tugged his jacket closer to keep warm and walked off, trying to make his way back home as fast and as soon as possible. He didn't like how things were starting to heighten up and that damn imaginary shadow of darkness that followed him every day was getting closer to the point where he could almost feel its grasp on his shoulders.

Tsuna concentrated on the road so much that he failed to notice a small glitter of metal in the distance, failed to notice that a window was propped open. If he had, then perhaps he would have escaped what would occur next.

_Bang!_

Tsuna blinked, pain overwhelming his mind and body, and a heavy throbbing feeling pulsated throughout his entire form. He gasped, his limbs going ridged before he watched the world spin before his very eyes, everything growing dark. He was slightly aware that he was falling down, falling down, down, down…

Tsuna stared into the cloudy sky, rain continuing to pour down, noticing that it was getting thicker as it hit his face. His eyelashes fluttered as it tried to clear the liquid that fell onto his face, little beads of water falling from his eyes like tears. The umbrella had been dropped somewhere and the eggs were broken from the fall. His fingers were getting cold and the darkness spread throughout his eyes, taking away the light that was in it, and there was that shadow that followed him now standing over his collapsed form. Its glowing eyes were staring directly at him, watching, waiting, and he saw it more closer as the obscurity engulfed his mind.

Then a small hand reached out, touching his face, giving a little warmth among the coldness. His eyes tried to focus, registering multiple gunshots ringing in his ears from close by, and recognized that familiar black fedora, despite his hazy mind. Finally, he closed his eyes and felt himself drift away, the darkness lastly consuming him whole.

"Tsuna!"

* * *


	27. Memories

"Tsuna!" Reborn stared at the fallen form of his student, watching as the rain water that surrounded the teen turned a deep blood red color. He had already taken care of the assassin with a single shot, something that had been simple, far too simple. Now it was the life before his very eyes that was starting to slip away from him. His tiny hands went over the wound, his fingers dyeing red immediately upon touch, and placed pressure onto it to hold back the bleeding. His eyes watched as the clothes over the area darkened, water dripping off his fedora hat, protecting it from getting into his eyes. He didn't need any distractions right now.

Reborn cursed, the bullet had hit an organ and an artery and knew that at this rate, Tsuna would bleed out within minutes. He didn't have much time left and he needed to act hastily. Calling to his unused powers, his fingers began to glow in a yellow hue, the sun flames activating within himself, and focused the energy onto the bullet wound.

He wasn't going to let Tsuna die, not like this, not when he had so many questions running through his mind. He wanted the truth, he _needed_ the truth.

Reborn faltered for second before shaking his head and going back to work. He couldn't think about unimportant things at this moment, he needed to concentrate on Tsuna. His student's life was literally hanging in his hands. And yet, his thoughts faded. What was the truth he was seeking? For what? He felt a pain suddenly spike from within his mind as if he had crossed some invisible mental barrier. That couldn't be right…why would he feel pain?

He almost stopped his flow of powers at that, confusion evident in his eyes. Why _had_ there been pain? That was odd, too odd. Was he afraid of the truth or was there something else? _No_! He had more important things to deal with first and foremost.

The sun Arcobaleno felt the tissues in Tsuna's body stitching back together from his powers, the blood slowing down with the rain water slowly turning pink instead. His energy began to decrease rapidly from the overuse of his abilities, but he continued to use his flames, not caring about the consequences he would be faced later on, never letting himself rest for a moment. He needed to keep Tsuna alive until Dino arrived with help, he had to.

Rain continued to fall down, its downpour never changing, washed away into the streets and eventually traveled to the drains, disappearing within the darkness of the sewers. What seemed liked seconds felt like minutes and hours for Reborn as he continued to strain and over push his little body.

How could this have happened? Reborn thought to himself desperately, eyes still on the bleeding wound, glad that the organ had been mostly stitched up and the artery was halfway done. Just a little more and Tsuna would be out of the danger zone, just a little more…

Reborn cursed to himself, this was all his fault. He should have acted beforehand when he saw what was coming, he should have acted faster. And yet he didn't. He allowed himself to get distracted by thoughts, by his emotions, and here was the end result of his moment of hesitation. How completely and utterly stupid of him. He had damned his student.

Reborn took a moment to let his eyes drift up to Tsuna's face, examining the rapidly paling skin, the blue lips, and cursed fluently again. It was cold, his own body was soaked to the core, and he forced every inch of his body to not shiver. Leon was already, curling up in a desperate attempt to keep warm. It was far too cold for his partner to transform into something useful. Reborn could see puffs of smoke in his face and his fingers were going numb. And then he saw some fluttering of those eyes, but didn't see those bright honey-colored ones he was so used to underneath those eyelids. For a moment, he saw those eyes look at him, blinking in such dullness he didn't think was possible on his student.

And then something happened, he felt something pass his eyes, an image he didn't recognize, couldn't believe. He thought it was an illusion but he could still see Tsuna, still feel the rain, and his powers were still flowing out him like the water around him. He saw himself, his real adult self talking with someone, smiling happily like never before. A flutter in his chest occurred soon after like his heart had skipped a beat. He was happy? Why? Why did he suddenly feel so happy like he was…like he was in love…

Shaking his head, he snapped out of his daze, he refused to let old memories distract him from his present priority, he needed to save Tsuna. He wasn't going to let someone he cared deeply about, student or not, die right before him. And so he kept going, counting the time and hoping that at any moment, Dino would appear to give him that badly needed hand. But it didn't matter, Reborn would wait as long as needed to bring Tsuna back home alive.

The artery was almost complete, the redness now a light pink in small streams, and still the rain fell. Reborn stared at those eyes that were still looking at him and spoke, "Dame-Tsuna, don't you dare die on me."

There was no answered, he didn't expect one. No cars came down the streets, the place empty as it was before, and he cursed his luck.

He continued to watch the boy before him, never once letting go, never once letting his flames die down. And then he saw another flash of a memory, a memory he swore he had never seen before. He saw himself settled on a couch, talking to someone, and was even lying against that shadow as if completely relaxed, like there was nothing wrong with this image.

'I don't know this memory. It can't be mine. I know my own mind better than anyone else.' Reborn thought to himself, repeated to himself, and yet his heart knew better. This memory was real, it was true. He couldn't tear himself away from it, he continued to stare at the image before his very eyes, and felt a throb in his chest. Had he been in love?

Reborn shook his head, he's a hitman, he can't love. Yet the sensation didn't leave and he continued feel it within in tiny chest. 'It hurts…' his eyes glanced down at his fingers, noticing that they were pale with the tips just starting to turn blue.

It hurt, his entire body hurt, external and internal. He knew that person on the couch, he knew he did. He had been with that person, lived with him, _him_. Reborn felt that similar spark of pain inside his head and winced, his fingers twitching. Leon poked his head out from where he had curled up on the fedora, looking down at his master curiously, looking into those very confused, very desperate black eyes.

_Just what the hell was happening to him…_

Luckily for him, he didn't need to think any longer, Dino had finally pulled up to their location, rushing out with a bunch of other men. Finally, Reborn could stop and he watched as his ex-student began to handle things, calling out orders, getting Tsuna support from other sun users to continue from where Reborn had left off, and wrapped the brunet in a warm towel, blankets, jackets, just to keep him warm.

Things began to blur, Reborn found himself sitting in a car, next to Dino, still watching over Tsuna on the other side of the vehicle. The men were working painstakingly on his student, fixing him up to their best of their ability. Tsuna would live, Reborn had made sure of that, even when those eyes closed up during the car ride. The only thing keeping him from rushing over was the obvious rise and fall of the chest. If Tsuna was still breathing, he was still alive.

The ride was silent on Reborn's side, he ignored all the curious glances, the questions that were pointed his way. He didn't want to answer, his body was cold and exhausted, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep, but he was afraid to that do. He was afraid that if he closed his eyes for a moment, Tsuna just might slip away and disappear forever. And so he remained awake, watching and waiting, never letting his eyes drift away from the sleeping brunet for too long.

He could see the breathing of the brunet begin to ease up, the color coming back as the blue receded, but the paleness remained. Tsuna had lost too much blood, Reborn heard mumbles that the sky guardian would need a blood transfer to keep alive, would need this and that. Despite how hazy his mind was from exhaustion, Reborn listened and watched.

The arrival to the hospital led to more movement, and he went through his secret routes he had implanted into this building long ago so he could continue keeping an eye. He never drifted too far apart. The surgery had gone on for two hours and during that time, Tsuna's family and guardians had arrived, all egging on Dino, but even the blonde didn't know what had happened. Reborn was the only one with the answers, but he never came out, leaving everyone in the dark. In his condition, he couldn't answer anything and his mind and body were far too weak to try. Perhaps that would explain the illusions before his eyes during the middle of the day. But in the back of his mind whispered that they weren't illusions, memories, _his_ memories of the past.

His head still throbbed from the sudden pains, he was going to find out what happened to him, he was going to figure out this mystery.

A relief washed over him when the surgery was done and over with, the report coming out that Tsuna would be okay. The combined healing of the sun flames had prevented any worse conditions and with a resupply of blood and rest, the brunet would be back to normal within a couple of days. Now they simply needed to wait for him to wake up. For Reborn, it meant he could rest and told him, relieved him, that Tsuna's life was no longer in danger. Tsuna was okay, he would wake up and give him that smile that he loved.

Loved?

Reborn didn't think on it as he passed out in his secret location, slumbering into dream land, dreaming of nothing but darkness.

* * *

_It's been broken._

_Broken?_

_Yes, he had forced his way through it._

* * *

Tsuna couldn't remember what happened, his mind had gone blank, and everything felt so heavy. He couldn't even open his eyelids and there was a beeping sound in the background, he didn't know what it was though. Instead, he kept still, his body unable to move an inch at all and continued to wait for something to happen. It wasn't until a few moments later that he remembered what happened. It hit him like a brick had been thrown to his head, he had been shot, and right before he collapsed, he had saw Reborn.

Reborn…

If he could move, he would sigh. Tsuna remembered seeing those concerned eyes, wide with fear and completely scared. It was the first time he had ever seen such eyes on the other, such a look, and he hated it. That expression didn't belong to the hitman, no, it shouldn't be on Reborn in the first place.

The sky guardian wanted to move, he wanted to see Reborn, to show him that everything was alright, but he couldn't. He simply couldn't. There were voices around him, his mom, his friends, and many others. He could hear them, but none of them was the one he was desperately searching for and then all was silent. Everyone had been forced out of the room by the staff due to visiting hours being over. Nana was harder to get out, but with a little of convincing that she had kids to take care of, she left with everyone else.

It was quiet, far too quiet for Tsuna's liking, and yet he still listened to his surroundings. After a few moments, he heard it, tiny footsteps coming his way. He would have smiled if he could.

"Tsuna…"

The brunet momentarily froze within his mind when he felt that sullen voice. Was that really Reborn's? It didn't sound right. It was different. There were too many emotions in his name, it was…Tsuna had no words to describe it. He felt the baby jump up onto his bed, creeping across before settling next to his head. A hand touched him, right where his bangs were located, and pushed back some of the locks to clear the view. The warmth of the hand felt great against his skin and reassuring. Then a warm sensation entered his body, sun flames Tsuna recognized, but they were purer, more defined. They were Reborn's flames. Is Reborn trying to heal him?

And then the flames were gone, just a hand on his head.

With what little strength Tsuna had managed to regain, he tried to move, his fingers being the first thing. He felt it, they twitched, the bed sheets shifting at his movement. He could sense Reborn stilling at it, and he was certain that those black eyes were staring at the fingers in wonder.

Still, the brunet tried to move, getting his fingers to curl into a fist and with great difficulty, he did. Feeling was working its way back into his arms and going upward. Once more he felt more flames pouring into him and with that extra strength, he managed to open his eyes barely, everything blurry in the dark room but he was able to make out the dark outlines of Reborn right next to his head.

He stared, his eyes trying to clear up the blur, and slowly the outline cleared up into something that was easy to see. Those dark eyes were filled with emotions, no matter how much Reborn tried to hide it.

"Tsuna." There was that tone again, Tsuna recognized it the same as before, and smiled towards his tutor. His lips moved, but no sound came out, his throat dry and parch, and everything still hurt. Instead, he tried to reach up, hand shaky, and Reborn grabbed the struggling limb, gripping tightly as if afraid to let go.

"Tsuna."

This time the brunet's eyebrows narrowed in confusion, not sure what was going on. Why was Reborn repeating his name? Was there something wrong? Trouble? Shifting slightly, he tried to get closer. He could see the tiny figure struggling with something. Tsuna blinked, since when had he gotten so good at reading Reborn?

"Tsuna, I remember."

The brunet blinked again and those dark eyes were on his own, staring so intently that Tsuna couldn't get away, he didn't want to move away.

"I remember about ten years ago."


	28. Truth

Tsuna stared, his mouth sealed together, and it took him moments to finally register what Reborn had stated. He remembered about ten years ago, he _remembered_ … For a minute, the brunet didn't believe those words, thinking that everything was just a lie, that it couldn't be the truth. This could all be just a dream and he was simply delusional. He had been shot after all. And…And Reborn hadn't remembered since the very beginning of this mess. It had been the goal Tsuna had been working so hard on fixing in the first place, the one thing he wanted more than anything else.

It was then that the tiny hitman stepped closer over the blankets, his tiny feet sinking in, and grasped the brunet's much larger hand to give it a tight squeeze. _Painfully_. Tsuna winced, feeling those small fingers almost breaking through his skin and snapping his bones underneath, but luckily for him, it hadn't gone all the way as Reborn held back. But that pain brought Tsuna out of his thoughts and back to reality. That pain told the brunet that this wasn't a dream, that everything was real and really happening before his very eyes. Tsuna opened his mouth, wanting to speak, and yet no sound escaped. Nothing happened, just silence. His voice refused to come out and his throat was only further irritated, forcing him to cough out in frustration.

Reborn decided to answer instead, knowing his idiotic student wouldn't be able to do anything yet. The massive blood loss had almost caused a hypovolemic shock if they hadn't placed a blood line on IV piggyback with 0.9% sodium chloride running directly into Tsuna's veins to replace what was lost. Then there had been more issues that came along with the constantly dropping blood pressure and heart rate, leading the doctors to rush him off to the ICU for risk of multiple organ failure and brain ischemia. Reborn could only watch as pints after pints of blood was filtrated quickly into Tsuna's body to replenish what had been lost before things deteriorated. He had almost lost his idiot of a lover, _almost_ , and that was enough to snap the hitman into some sense. It was only when watching someone he cared for so deeply almost dying before his eyes that he finally realized what was happening, about his past with Tsuna. It was like something had snapped within. The hitman wanted to smack himself for the idiocy he had somehow developed, idiocy he hadn't been aware of. "Tsuna, I _remember_ what happened," Just repeating those words seemed to bring Tsuna's attention back to him, loosening up his hold. "I can't believe I actually forgot about you and to be honest, my memories of our time together are still a little fuzzy. But I know I remember what had occurred between us during those days together."

Tsuna blushed at that, knowing exactly what Reborn was hinting at. It was too obvious after all. There would have been some redness on his cheeks to complement if he actually had some blood in his body to do so, but Reborn knew what was going on. A smirk appeared on the hitman's lips and he went close enough to touch those said cheeks, giving them both a fond pinch. A loud, cracked squeak and pained expression resulted, forcing Tsuna to slam his eyes closed shut.

"Yes, I remember _that,_ too. You were the first person I actually had feelings for. It was no fling, no attachments, no nothing. Just my real feelings out there for you to see and have," The hitman muttered gently under his breath, knowing that if it was for anyone else, he would never say these words. All of his past relationships were nothing more than just lust, to keep his mind occupied and to satisfy his desire. But Tsuna…Tsuna was different, he had actually developed something for the teen and those feelings were coming back to him in full force. Despite their relationship, nothing had changed and his feelings only grew regardless of his screwed up memories. With Tsuna's growing smile as he spoke, he knew he still loved the brunet and wanted nothing more than to keep him all to himself. As well as kill anyone who dared to harm him, brutally so. "I still love you, Tsuna. But I believe I have to say this: I'm sorry for hurting your feelings during that time when I didn't remember. That was not my intention and you know that."

Tsuna just stared, not believing what he was hearing. Reborn was apologizing? That was impossible. It was unheard of!

Of course, the hitman replied soon after to cancel that fluttering sensation within Tsuna's chest, "By the way, say that to anyone and I'll torment you for the rest of your life."

At that, the brunet just laughed silently, despite the pressure in his torso, and was just glad that Reborn was still himself deep inside. His smile, a bright smile he hadn't given off for a long time, blossomed over his entire face, the room almost lighting up at it. He reached up to take Reborn's tiny fingers into his own and gave a comforting squeeze.

"I take it that you forgive me?"

Tsuna nodded and gave another smile, barely listening to the beeping sounds of the machines beside him. He became unaware of his environment, but that was alright, he knew that Reborn would watch over for him.

The hitman couldn't help but shake his head, he knew Tsuna would forgive him, and regardless of that fact, he was happy. The brunet had too kind of a heart, but that was what he liked about him and he never wanted that to change. That wouldn't make Tsuna 'Tsuna' if he acted like anything else, though Reborn did, at times, find that forgiving nature annoying when the brunet did something he shouldn't. "Anyway, I should give a report on what's been going on while you've been out. Tsuna, I located the assassin that shot you a few hours after you got out of surgery and stabilized. He's dead, but he was a freelancer that was hired to kill Vongola Decimo. He wasn't connected to any famiglia sadly, but at least we know what had happened. We could do a research over him, find out what he's been up to the last few days, see who he's been in contact with, but that would just be a waste of time. Vongola has many enemies, too many to count. Searching through them all would take too long to even try."

Tsuna listened intently; glad that things would be alright for the time being and that there wasn't going to be some war with another mafia famiglia that wanted him dead. He'd had too many of those in one lifetime. He swore it was always one thing or another with the mafia. It was like they were children fighting over the toys in a playground.

Reborn just smirked, shaking his head again, able to read the thoughts within the brunet's mind. "For now, you need to rest and recover from your gunshot wound. It's mostly healed at this point of time from my and Ryohei's combined healing, but you still lost a massive amount of blood. Straining yourself now would just cause a deteriorating condition I'd like to avoid," He paused to allow time for the brunet to absorb the information before continuing on, "We'll talk in the morning about everything that's occurred the past couple weeks. You've been up to something and I need to know what it is. You're not keeping me in the dark anymore on this and don't think you'll be able to get away from me now that I'm aware of our past adventures."

The brunet just continued to grin, glad that the person he wanted on his side the most was going to be there constantly from now on. He'd rather have that than be all alone any day. He rolled in his bed, turning to the side, and shifted back slightly to provide some room for Reborn to lie on, giving an unspoken offer. But just moving made him pull the threads at his wound, sparking pain and tearing some of the stitches that were holding his skin together. The sharp stabbing sensation made him wince immediately, letting out a gasp, before the feeling slipped away by the morphine that was being pumped into his body.

Regardless, Reborn narrowed his eyes and swiftly lifted up the hospital gown, examining the wound carefully for any bleeding. There were a few droplets slipping down the skin, staining the sheets, so he let his sun flames flow to his fingertips as he activated the healing property of his abilities. The hitman watched as his flames healed over the skin, stitching it back by pulling the flesh together, and observed the grimace on his lover's expression fading. The heart rate and blood pressure on the monitor began to stabilize as relief set in, the brunet remaining still to prevent any further incidents.

Still, Tsuna didn't want the other to leave him right now, even if he had to make himself stay in pain, because he knew deep within, there was still a lingering belief that all of this was just a dream and he would wake up in the morning to find that everything had been a lie. He didn't want that, he wanted Reborn's reassuring presence to still be there beside him, holding him. It was to tell him that this was reality.

Knowing what the teen was trying to do, Reborn complied with those wishes after finishing up the small healing session and settled next to Tsuna after placing his fedora to the side with Leon on it. He didn't want to bother with undressing into pajamas, not when they had been left behind at the Sawada household, and pressed himself up against his now ex-student. After all, he couldn't exactly call Tsuna his student anymore when they shared the same feelings together, much less had a relationship together that went beyond teacher-student.

The brunet took everything in with glee and cuddled closer happily by carefully shifting his weight, tempted to wrap his arms about the baby. But he couldn't, the multiple intravenous lines that were going through his arms prevented him from actually moving too much. However, Reborn made up for it as he leaned against Tsuna's body, grasping the gown, and buried his head underneath the brunet's chin. The teen wiggled his nose gently at the prickly hair that brushed up against him but ignored it, smelling the familiar rich coffee scent Reborn emitted from his body. It was comforting, a scent that just made him relaxes, and slowly, it guided him towards sleep, eyes closing gently.

The hitman smirked, enjoying the warmth of his companion, and knew he would have to do this more often. It was too bad this couldn't be under better circumstances, but Reborn knew better. There would be plenty of chances in the future to make up for the ten years he had missed and there was no doubt he would take any chances to make Tsuna his. Even with this tiny cursed body of his, he could still do some things. Tsuna will be with him despite what had been going on, he wasn't going to let his lover slip away this time.

As the baby felt the person beside him drift off into slumber, he decided that he too needed rest. His body was exhausted; he had expended a lot of his energy to keep Tsuna alive and to track down the assassin. Now that everything had returned to a somewhat normalcy, this was a time as good as any to get his body back in order. And so he closed his eyes, a small smile on his lips as he heard a cute mutter of words from Tsuna's lips.

* * *

The first thing Tsuna did when he woke up was to search for Reborn. Though he was momentarily blinded by the brightness of the sun that was shining through the curtains, it didn't matter. He needed to know for a fact that everything that had happened last night was real, that it wasn't a dream. Because if it was, he knew it would just kill him on the inside. It had happened before after all, there was no telling it wouldn't again.

"Over here, Dame-Tsuna."

The brunet snapped his head towards the nightstand where Reborn was sitting comfortably in a tiny chair, drinking a cup of espresso like there was nothing wrong. The hitman looked normal as always with his regular suit and fedora on, Leon curled around the hat. There was no expression that could be read, nothing that would reveal anything that had happened or if the other remembered. Carefully, the baby placed down his cup onto the side and stood up, making his way over to the brunet by hopping over the various stands, his large black eyes watching everything carefully. But before he reached Tsuna, he grabbed a waiting glass of ice water and handed it over. The precipitation on it made it slightly slippery and Reborn suppressed a shiver from the coldness.

"Drink before you say anything."

Tsuna took it without objection, knowing that his throat was still dry and itchy like hell. He wanted to cough, but he knew it would just make things much worse. But a good night's sleep had done wonders on his exhausted body and he could already tell he had more strength in his grip than before. That and there was finally some fluids going into him through his mouth to keep him hydrated besides the IV. The cold glass felt odd on his fingers and he resisted the temptation of pressing it against his burning forehead, but as the liquid ran down his throat, he let out a content sigh. It was exactly what he needed and he greedily gulped almost all of it down immediately. The hitman just stood there observing, never moving, his eyes ever watching. When Tsuna felt satisfied, he pulled the glass away from his lips, smacking them gently and rolling his tongue over them, before handing the cup back to Reborn. Slowly, he peered around the hospital bed, looking for the button to raise his upper body, and pressed it when he finally found it just as the baby placed the glass back onto the nightstand.

"R-Reborn?" His voice came out croaky, but that was to be expected. There was no doubt he had lost a lot of blood from his gunshot wound and the IV was most likely the only thing that was preventing him from caving into shock. Wiggling his nose, he coughed for a moment to try and clear his throat like he was trying to get his vocal cords to wake up. But at least there was a sound and he could work with that. "Do you…"

Reborn smirked once the brunet began and placed his hands up onto his hips, staring at the teen from where he had decided to perch. The lap just seemed too comfortable and crawled onto it, folding his legs to give him less of a strain. He tilted his head slightly, letting his curls bounce at the movement. "Now, you'd better tell me what's been going on. Do not think I'm going to let you keep your lover out of the loop," At Tsuna's gaping expression, Reborn couldn't help but chuckle, watching in amusement as the adorable facial expressions change from one thing to another rapidly. "Now start from the beginning and don't miss a single thing."

And Tsuna was more than happy to comply. Though he had to pause here and there because of his throat, he managed to croak the important things out, just enough for the hitman to get a clear understanding of the situation. Anything else would have to be told later at a better time when his body can go through the entire conversation. Reborn listened to everything, only speaking up for more details on things he didn't understand, but other than that, he remained quiet. It was clear to Tsuna that the baby was pondering over every little detail, no doubt connecting them with the past events as if he was fitting together some sort of puzzle. Things were beginning to make sense, reasons for Tsuna's actions, his quietness, everything.

Reborn had been surprised hearing about Verde's involvement in this whole mess and even more so about the meeting they had set up from the past. But he could understand why even Verde would be curious about this since it was obviously clear that someone had somehow messed with their memories without them knowing. It sounded like something that would happen as a time loop to prevent the past from knowing about the future, but then that wouldn't make sense. It had never happened before when using the ten-year bazooka to go to the future, so why the past? Why that time? Still, to think that Tsuna had done so much during the time when he had come back, Reborn felt like a complete fool.

"So that's what's been happening. Alright, I'll do some research on my end while you're recovering to see if I can figure out what's been going on. I agree with Verde though, there seems to be some sort of outside interference with how our memories were replaced. I'll call Iemitsu and the Ninth to see if they remember anything. You did meet up with them after all." Reborn was about to stand up to start working on things when he decided otherwise. One look at Tsuna immediately told him to stay just for a little bit longer. The brunet just looked so fragile, like he was about to break at any moment. The IVs and white gown didn't make it any better and those eyes peering down at him curiously with a slight tint of fear…The hitman almost wanted to curse himself, if only he hadn't been an idiot, this would have never happened. But he couldn't fix the past, only the present, and now was as good a time as any to start working on that. His relationship with Tsuna was no doubt strained because of his mistakes and his own mind was still working things out, trying to repeatedly tell himself that this wasn't his student anymore but his lover. It would be difficult to get used to, but he can do it. He was Reborn after all.

But he wondered how he was supposed to break it to the Ninth and Iemitsu about this. Reborn wiggled his nose, settling down next to the brunet, and gave a small huff. Like hell he was going to tell Iemitsu, that man could rot for all he cared. His eyes peered up towards Tsuna, who was settling down back into bed to continue resting, his body already being pushed to the limit. The constant beeping of the heart monitor reassured him that Tsuna was still alive and breathing and he listened carefully for the breaths to begin evening out. Leon crawled down from the fedora, making his way towards Reborn's right shoulder and gave a lick onto a cheek. The hitman blinked for a split second, his eyes still on the other, and stood up the moment he knew Tsuna had fallen back to sleep. Stepping closer to the peaceful expression, he ran his fingers over the soft yet clammy skin as if reassuring himself that this was reality. Just like Tsuna, he too was having problems figuring out between the blur of the fakes and the reals, but the more that time passed; the more it began to clear. He figured it wouldn't be too much longer before the haze finally vanished over his mind. His tiny fingers continued to run through the hair, the locks oily from being unwashed, before he pulled away. He could do this later; right now he had more important things to do.

Hopping down the bed, he made his way out through the bedroom door to the hallway and reached up to Leon, letting the chameleon transform into a cellphone. The nurses that were working in the ICU gave him a curious glance and some even went up, asking if he was lost or with someone. Reborn, not in the mood for any of this, gave a glare, sending the nurses scurrying off to work on other patients. He hopped up onto a bench and dialed a familiar number on Leon, placing the cellphone up to his ear. There was the ringing tone, alerting that his call was going through and then a click.

"Ninth, it's Reborn."

There was some hesitation, but Reborn should have expected it, seeing as it was considered early morning around one AM over in the other side of the world. "Is there something wrong? Is Tsuna alright? I've heard the news. Iemitsu was about to drop everything to come over until he heard the news that Tsuna was alright."

"Yes, he's currently stable and recovering now. He's resting at this moment. However, that's not what I'm calling about. I need to ask you something personal that occurred about ten years ago." Reborn glanced up when another nurse started coming towards him and stood up to walk away. He needed to get to a more isolated area for this private conversation. There were far too many people here at this current time who could easily eavesdrop. He also needed to alert the nurse to keep Tsuna off limits to everyone, the brunet needed to recover, not lengthen his stay because his friends did something stupid. Now was not the time for any stupidity.

"I'm listening." The Ninth continued to speak, keeping his voice clear despite the slight tinge of sleepiness.

"Ten years ago when I returned a report, did you hear anything about who Vongola Decimo was supposed to be? Or do you remember me coming in with someone?"

"What do you mean? I'm afraid I don't understand. I'm quite old remember? Memory is the first thing to go at my age." The elderly man gave a small laughter, taking amusement in the situation. More than likely, the other wasn't able to read anything into the conversation even with his hyper intuition, probably because his version was much weaker compared to Tsuna's. The brunet just didn't know how to distinguish things just yet because of his inexperience.

"Back when I was still an adult, do you remember a small teenager coming in with me? A brunet, Asian, small in size."

There was a pause on the other side. "I'm afraid I don't get what you mean. You never did that before."

Reborn blinked, expecting that result, and spoke without any pause, "I see, then never mind. I was probably misinformed. Goodnight." Clicking the button to cancel the call, he pulled Leon away from his ear and stared at it. 'Damn, so I'm correct in this. Everyone who had met Tsuna had their memories replaced. If it was just among the Arcobaleno, then it would make things much simpler, but everyone? It's too difficult to attack Nono without anyone else knowing, much less Iemitsu, who I'm certain is also affected. Just who has the power to do this to everyone like that?'

The hitman spun around, heading back to Tsuna's room to keep watch of him. 'This doesn't sound too good. Too many mysteries. Too many unanswered questions. Damn.'


	29. Fresh

Reborn was sipping on a lovely cup of espresso near the windowsill as he observed the rain and storm guardians fret over their beloved boss. He smirked to himself, watching the teenagers interact made him feel a little lighter inside, and he was pleased to see for the first time in a long time Tsuna cheering up to his old usual self. The brunet was finally able to smile genuinely once more, a smile that could only belong to him, and it was almost like the whole time travel incident hadn't occurred. It was a smile that could bright up anyone's world within moments, including his own. It was as if an overwhelming weight had been lifted off the other and Reborn strongly suspected that it had to do with him remembering his forgotten memories. For a moment, he was tempted to jump into the middle of the group of friends and play a few of his usual games. He wanted to break the tension between them and watch as they raced around in a frenzied madness from the chaos resulting, but he decided to resist. Tsuna already had enough things to worry and stress about, he didn't really need Reborn's outrageous tendencies added to that list just yet. The only other reason the hitman held himself back from lashing out was the fact Tsuna was still recovering. After all, he had _plenty_ of time in the future to mess with his lover.

"Are you sure you're alright, Juudaime? Do you want me to investigate about what happened? I'll take out anyone that even thought about involving themselves in such a terrible scheme!" Gokudera yelled, eagerly awaiting orders as he grasped onto the bed sheets beside the brunet. He slowly began to lean in towards his beloved Juudaime, his emerald green eyes sparkling and his hands sinking into the mattress. His knuckles were almost white, the nervousness he possessed showing through, but kept that eager expression in place in an effort to keep his emotions tied down.

Tsuna couldn't help but chuckle happily, amused by his friend's reactions, and for a moment, imagined a dog's tail wagging behind. Eventually though, before the silver-haired teen could do something stupid, he began to calm him down with soft mutter of words and a wave of his hand. He didn't want his dear friend getting into trouble, which was quite probable considering Gokudera's bad habits, and sadly more than half of them always came back to him in one way or another. Tsuna hoped his storm guardian would one day grow out of that. "Don't worry, Gokudera. Everything's been cleared up. From what Reborn told me, it was just an assassin after my life, nothing more."

Reborn smirked, cutting in immediately after taking another sip of his espresso. "Obviously you two aren't doing your jobs as guardians. You should have been more prepared for such an occasion. Have you forgotten that your precious boss and friend is a walking target? Anything can happen when one looks away." He didn't want to mention that the latter was also true in his case. He had just looked away, nothing more than that… and found everything he had been working for fading before his eyes. What was even worse though was that his own memories had been nothing more than a lie. It was strange how things came together in the oddest ways. Reborn swirled the remaining of his drink within the cup, his expression unchanging, and tilted his head slightly when he felt Leon moving around the top of his fedora.

"I guess…we need more training in order to fully protect you from harm." Yamamoto nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he tilted his head forward towards the ground. The cheerfulness in his voice was now forced out, hoping to lighten the situation, but he knew better. He had failed his friend, allowed him to get hurt and almost killed because of his lack of strength. His eyes remained glued to his shoes as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, unable to look anywhere else. From the corner, Yamamoto could see Gokudera's shoulders slumping downwards at the mentioning as well, knowing it was true. They had both failed.

Tsuna sighed, shaking his head as he glanced towards Reborn to convey a secret message before peering back at his two friends. The soft smile on his lips made them brighten ever so slightly – it was the kind of smile that could convince them that there was nothing wrong in the world. "It's fine, really. This wasn't your fault and I doubt you would have been able prevent it from happening. Some things just happen, whether there is a reason or not. You're strong, both of you. Don't beat yourselves up over this. I know that if this was reversed, you'd be saying the same thing."

Yamamoto and Gokudera looked like they were about to say something against his comment, but were stopped when Reborn suddenly transformed Leon into his familiar green gun-form and fired. The bullet slipped between the two guardians, who snapped their mouths shut immediately and cowered faintly in fear as they felt a sudden spark of murderous intent. However, just as quickly it appeared, it vanished and Reborn raised the tip of his gun up to bump his fedora up. "Tsuna is correct. This wasn't something you could have prevented. There could be many things that could have caused this. You're both young, inexperienced with such matters. But regardless, you still need training because of this incident. I doubt you would listen to my advice on this subject if I told you otherwise. You're welcome to ask the Arcobaleno for help while they are around, they would be good trainers in raising your skills. Most of us are experts in assassinations after all."

The two guardians shared a smile between each other as they nodded rapidly in agreement, a decision clear in their minds. Tsuna sighed from his spot on the sidelines, but didn't contradict Reborn, knowing that it was best to step out for the time being. He could already tell on what Reborn was planning, it was too obvious. Still, he knew that getting his friends to train would prove as a great distraction. It might even help them gain more respect and confidence in their strength. He knew very well that this incident had made it decrease significantly. Tsuna almost sighed, pushing back into the mattress of his bed and ran a hand through his spiky locks.

"Well, since you two are so eager to do so, can we talk about it later? I'm going to be trapped in this bed for a week and I'm still having difficulties walking. Can I have something entertaining to do in the meantime?" Tsuna chuckled, momentarily glancing down at the various IVs that were pushing both fluids and medication into his body. He was already regaining the majority of his strength back, and he felt well enough to attempt walking, but he still needed the physician's approval on that matter. His body was still in overdrive to replace the lost blood and the fluids could only expand his blood vessels for so long.

Yamamoto just laughed in amusement while Gokudera stepped forward and reached into the backpack he had been brought in earlier. Tsuna knew the two were skipping school, the time on the clock was enough to inform him of that, but everyone remained silent on that detail. He was glad to have someone here to keep him company and talk to him about something not related to his heath like a normal person. He knew he had Reborn, but they were still quite awkward with each other, trying to settle back into their old roles while maintaining their current ones. It would take a while before everything finally fixed itself, but they both knew they had plenty of time to spend on it and they could make baby-steps to the right position. Meanwhile, Tsuna's honey-colored eyes observed the silver-haired teen as he continued to dig through his bag, searching for something deep within the confines of the fabric. Eventually, he found it and outstretched his hand as victory.

"Here, Juudaime, this might help with your boredom," He held out one of the gaming devices, a PSP with a game already inside. Tsuna grabbed the system carefully and peered up at his storm guardian curiously, letting out a small hum as he messed with the buttons. "It gets boring being trapped in the bed all day. Hopefully this will help pass the time."

"T-Thank you," Giving a gentle smile, Tsuna placed the gaming system onto his stand so that it wouldn't get in his way. However, that smile was disturbed when Reborn jumped off his little spot on the window to land on the top of Tsuna's head. He let out a small squeak in response and gave a grumble about the additional pressure on his head but did little else. "Really, Reborn? I'm already injured."

"It'll make you recover faster. Besides, you have other things to do than play video games. You have to catch up with your school work before you get too far behind."

"Seriously? You're making me depressed, Reborn!"

The two guardians at the side watched in amusement as the two bickered over simple matters like old times. To them, they were just happy to see their good friend finally smiling like he used to.

* * *

More visitors showed up right after school ended, Yamamoto and Gokudera already gone, and Tsuna felt a little better as more friendly faces came by to greet him. The first pair was too easy to hear, the sound of their voices, or well, one voice, had traveled down the length of the hallway by echo. It was much too simple to figure out whom it belonged to. He let a fond smile grace his face at the thought and glanced up at Reborn, who had moved from his previous spot by the window to his bed. The hitman had abandoned his finished cup on the ledge and was lying beside him, using his lap as a pillow, while watching some television with his student to help pass the time. Once the group of five stumbled in, Tsuna muted his show to listen.

"Sawada! How are you extremely feeling?" The boxer yelled out with a wide grin that revealed teeth, all the while triumphantly pumping his fist towards the brunet. Kyoko scolded her older brother soon afterwards, trying to coerce him into obeying the rules of the hospital. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Instead the sun guardian stomped closer with an eager expression on his face and positioned his fists close to his chest as if he was preparing to punch something. "I'll extremely help you get better! You need to extremely move around to get your blood flow going!"

Tsuna blinked and backed away slightly from his overly energetic guardian, pushing gently against the hitman on his bed. "M-Maybe later, I need to recover from my wound first before doing anything. I don't… want to open my stitches."

"Onii-san! Stop yelling or the head nurse will scold us. I don't want us to get kicked out," Kyoko continued to admonish her brother, looking absolutely disappointed with him. Before long, when she managed to quiet her older sibling down, she turned to the brunet with her usual brilliance. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well. Everyone at school was so worried about you."

'Who's everyone? Half the class wants me dead or at the very least gone.' Tsuna thought, not quite daring enough to speak those words aloud. His eyes turned to the other members of the group: Hana, Haru, and Chrome. He gave a three of them a weak smile and waved his left hand in greeting. "Hey."

Haru sniffed, gaining some attention from her peers, and stepped forward a little before finally jumping, landing straight onto Tsuna's bed. She ignored the yelp from the boy and instead buried her face into the brunet's chest. Reborn had luckily leaped to the side, preventing himself from being entangled in the bone-crushing hug. He sported a small shadowed glare that only Tsuna caught - it was _jealousy_. Reborn was jealous and the brunet found it undeniably adorable, temporarily ignoring the brunette on his lap for his lover. Suddenly, Haru gave a small cry and squeezed Tsuna tightly, not aware that she was also pressing on the wound. Immediately, the brunet winced and tried to move her away, already feeling pain sparking up his spine at the pressure. "Haru was so scared when she heard that Tsuna-san got shot. Haru thought you were dead!"

'At the rate you're going, I will be.' Tsuna winced again when she applied a fiercer pressure than before. 'Or at least reopen my wound. The pulling of the stitches is painful!' He was eventually saved when Hana came by, yanking the girl off of him, and flopped back into his bed. Giving a thankful smile, Tsuna tried to reorganize the sheets around him and felt Reborn settling back into his previous spot. It was like the hitman was claiming it as his own…and it kinda amused the sky guardian as he continued to observe.

Hana continued to hold the crazy girl back, grumbling words under her breath. "Haru, stop that. You're only hurting Sawada more by pressing into him like that."

At those words, the pony-tailed brunette paused, and the shocked expression that slipped onto her face was shortly followed by a gasp. "Haru is so sorry! Haru didn't mean to hurt you!"

"It's fine… just don't do it again, alright?" Tsuna waved it off, but deep down he hoped that no one else would come after him like that again. His body could only handle so much. He felt Reborn moving around on his lap, sensing those tiny fingers gently touching his wound as if testing something. It didn't hurt and he had a strong feeling that the hitman was simply checking to see if there were any openings he needed to call the nurse for. It wouldn't do well if it got infected or began bleeding again. The morphine that was being pumped continuously into his body was already taking the pain away and as a result, his breathing evened out as his body settled back into its usual position. Turning his honey-colored eyes to Chrome, he gave a warm smile. "It's good to see you too, Chrome. How are you?"

"I'm fine, boss," The purple-haired girl gave a weak nod and remained in her spot far away from everyone, trying to isolate herself from the madness. The Vongola heir just reached forward and motioned her to come closer, which she did. "H-How are you feeling?"

"Been better," Letting out a small chuckle, he continued on. "Have you been eating well? You look a little skinnier than the last time I saw you." Chrome, letting a small tint of redness dance on her cheeks, gave a nod. Tsuna, of course, didn't believe her. His eyes turned to the three girls in the room, Ryohei grumbling in the background, and gave a sigh towards them. It was loud enough to draw their attention. "After this, could you please treat Chrome to something? She needs something more substantial than just chocolate in her diet."

"Haru can do that!"

"Sure, Tsuna-kun." Giving a vivid smile, Kyoko reached over to grab Chrome's arm as if to preventing her from escaping. Hana was on the other side with a smirk, arms folded across her chest.

"Thanks!" Tsuna watched as the four girls slipped out of the room, listening to their conversation about deciding which place to go to. He almost laughed at the uneasiness Chrome was showing, but it was for the best. She really needed something more than just junk food in her diet; she was a growing girl who still had years left. Ryohei, however, was still in the room and was being amazingly quiet for once considering his personality. Tsuna tilted his head at that and shifted slightly in bed to get a better look. "What is it, Onii-san?"

"Was the attack part of…" The sun guardian trailed off, rubbing the back of his head as his eyes glanced at the covering of the gunshot wound.

Reborn gave a huff. "It was an assassination attempt. It failed of course, or else Tsuna would be buried six feet under. Naturally, the assassin's remains won't be found ever again. Vongola has made sure of that," He didn't even flinch or show any emotion as he spoke those words. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault that it happened."

Looking like he was about to protest, Ryohei inhaled a large breath of air to yell when Tsuna shook his head. "Reborn is right, it could have happened to anyone."

"Then what about octopus-head and Yamamoto? What are they extremely doing right now?"

"They've decided to train themselves to get stronger. I guess… if you want to do the same, ask the Arcobaleno for help. That's what they're doing." Tsuna offered, knowing where this was going. Within moments, Ryohei had perked up and gave a massive yell before sprinting off down the hallway. There were some screams and scolding from the various nurses and patients who were in his path, but all went ignored as the sun guardian race out of the hospital. Tsuna disregarded a loud crash that followed and reached over to the remote to turn the volume back on. He decided that it was just safer to pay no heed to everything that was happening.

After he provided no disagreement with Tsuna's decision, Reborn followed suit and leaned back into his lover's chest as if it was the most comfortable thing in the world. He took off his fedora to position himself in more of a relaxed position. Leon maneuvered around the hat that had been dropped on the bedside and crawled up the sheets to get onto Tsuna's shoulder, giving his cheek a fond lick in the process. Silence settled between them as they concentrated on the show, apparently a woman had just found out she had slept with her husband's supposed twin brother.

* * *

A few hours later, Nana came in with the children and had brought along a mountain of food. Apparently, she didn't consider hospital food to be tasty or nutritious to her standards. Regardless, the Vongola heir was happy. Immediately upon sight of the grub, Lambo tried to fight over it, demanding that it was all his until Reborn threw him out the window. Tsuna wanted to say something against that action, but had long since learned that dealing with Reborn's crazy personality was impossible. He sighed and watched as the fighting went on in the backdrop before turning his attention to his mother. She fed him blissfully, smiling brightly as she watched her son eat. It was her own little way of showing how much she adored him despite him being who he was and continued to stuff him until she felt that he had eaten enough. Anything else that was left behind was packed into containers to be devoured later on, Reborn even claiming a few as his own.

Tsuna beamed as he waved goodbye to his mother, watching as the kids were dragged out behind her. By then, the sun was just beginning to set in the distance, the light slowly vanishing behind the buildings in the distance. The sky was turning into various colorful shades, a midnight blue gradually asserting its dominance. The moon and stars were beginning to reveal themselves far above, spreading out as if they had been covered by something, and twinkled its radiance.

"So what now?" Tsuna eventually spoke as he peered out the window an hour later, the show that had been on the television having ended. The credits were moving up on the black screen, giving him nothing to do in the meantime until the next movie started. His honey-colored eyes stared out into the night sky where only the moon and stars were present. It wasn't exactly pretty, but it was nice compared to being deeper in the town where the all the pollution clouded the sky.

Reborn hadn't moved from his spot, but did shift so that he was on his side, staring out towards the window as well. "Hmm, I think it's pretty obvious what must be done next. We need to find out what happened. And the best way to do that is to get the other Arcobaleno to remember."

"Do you want them to?"

"Do you?" Reborn maneuvered his head up to look straight into those large eyes curiously, blinking his own for a moment.

"Not sure. I'm…kinda happy how things are right now. My main purpose was to get you to remember. I had planned on getting the others to remember first so that it would be easier to convince you that something had indeed happened in the past. But… it seems my plan has skipped ahead to my goal." Tsuna momentarily reached up, his hand just inches away from Reborn's head and held it there to ask permission to touch. The hitman glanced towards the hovering hand for a moment before burying himself further into Tsuna's stomach, giving the go ahead. Offering a soft smile, Tsuna allowed his fingers to drift through the black spiky hair that could only belong to Reborn, each strand easily comparable to silk.

The hitman almost hummed at the gentle caress on his scalp, finding it absolutely calming. "Well, we might want to find out who caused it. There's no telling whether or not it might happen again. I called Nono, but even he doesn't remember so I'm assuming everyone else is the same."

"That's… true," Sighing, Tsuna peered up from the hitman's form to stare at the wall, his mind still wandering over various thoughts. "I don't want to lose this, not now, not when I have just got it back."

"You're not the only one, Tsuna," Reborn pushed his head towards the hand, enjoying the sensations it brought. The brunet didn't want to mention that the other was acting almost like a cat. "But we should start planning later. There's no point in planning now considering you can't go anywhere or do anything."

"True."

"That being said, you need to get some rest. Your priority right now is to heal up and get well."

"Says the Spartan baby who tried to beat me into submission earlier today just to get me to do my school work."

Immediately, Reborn slammed his tiny fist straight into Tsuna's stomach, gaining some satisfaction at hearing his lover choke at the sudden pain. It wasn't painfully hard, just enough to serve as a warning. The brunet pouted, rubbing the sore spot. "Don't get cocky with me. I may be your lover and stuck in this form, but I won't hesitate to hit you if you step out of bounds."

"Yes, yes, I'm glad to see some things don't change."

"Get some rest. Now."

Shaking his head, Tsuna pressed one of the various buttons on the side railings to get the head of the bed down. Rubbing his face into the pillow, he felt Reborn roll off to his side and smirked to himself as he closed his eyes. It was nice that things were finally settling into something different yet welcoming. It was like he had regained everything he had been wanting for such a long time. As his mind began to drift off into the darkness, his ears could still pick out the sounds of the television going on in the background.


	30. Moving

Tsuna's discharge from the hospital was a happy day, he was finally leaving the accursed place. It wasn't just Tsuna who was pleased about leaving though, his friends, as well as the hospital staff, were too. Apparently, the hospital staff did not appreciate the racket Tsuna's friends had made, if their continuous banishing was anything to go by. By the end of the week, the entire hospital work force was already so tired of him and his companions that they had decided it was too much of a pain to keep bothering with them.

Still, at the end of the day, many of Tsuna's friends were there to congratulate him, glad to see the brunet out of the white hospital bed at long last. They said their varying goodbyes - the hospital staff especially glad - as he exited the building in a wheelchair before hopping into a car to be driven back home. Nana was tearing up in happiness, pleased to see her darling son coming home safe and sound. She never did like seeing her him harmed.

For Tsuna, he was just glad to be in a familiar setting and not surrounded by white and dreary walls. Home was by far much more comforting, it was easier to rest in as well. The constant checking in and reading of his vital signs got annoying after a while, especially since it would always be around midnight and four in the morning. Still, with Reborn by his side, he had nothing to really fear even for his own health. He was confident that the hitman would be able to take care of it for him or at least help him towards to the end. It was the one thing he knew Reborn would do for him no matter what.

Still, there was no doubt that Tsuna, during his time alone in the hospital, still questioned what had happened to cause the entire memory mess. No one had remembered him and most still didn't. He had originally expected it with the whole time involvement, but for memories to be replaced and reorganized? That was different and completely unexpected. Tsuna went through the multiple names that had a possibility of being involved with the mess but none seemed to strike him as the type who would do something like this. Not to mention, he knew of no one who had that kind of power. And here he thought he had seen all his crazy mafia-filled life had to offer.

Tsuna slowly made his way up the stairs in his house the moment he got back, wanting nothing more than to get into his own bed - something he sorely missed. A hospital bed was nice but having his own was the best, one which he knew would be considerably more peaceful compared to before. He settled in it immediately, pulling the sheets over his shoulders and relaxed, barely listening to the voices that were going on behind the door. The curtains were wide open, letting the sunlight in, and he could hear the sounds of animals outside in the trees and on the grass. The only one still with him was Reborn, everyone else was gone. The hitman remained settled against his shoulder, despite being in bed, almost as if watching him, not wanting to leave the premises any time soon. It was a cute in its own way.

Reborn placed his fedora against the nightstand along with Leon and hopped up onto the window frame, looking out into the distance as if searching for something. Tsuna stared at him from his spot on the bed, wondering what was going on in his lover's mind, however, he kept his mouth shut, simply content to watch. He couldn't help but enjoy seeing the light of the sun reflecting in those dark onyx eyes. It was almost as if it created a sentimental hue in them. It was a pleasant, soothing reflection. However, after about ten or so minutes, the brunet began to grow impatient from the unusual silence and spoke, "Reborn, what are you doing?"

"I'm waiting. I want to talk to the Arcobaleno who remember and see if they have any new ideas. We also need to help the others remember, too. There's always a chance something like this can happen again and I want to prevent that."

Tsuna just smiled along, knowing that Reborn didn't want to forget their newfound memories anytime soon. "Alright, but I think I play an important part in everything since it's connected to me, after all."

"True." Reborn huffed, turning away from the window to gaze at the brunet. Possessiveness quickly flashed through his eyes, almost like he was saying he didn't want to share the brunet with anyone. Tsuna almost laughed; pleased to see Reborn's jealousy was making itself know. It was cute with Reborn in his tiny form, but he would never admit such a thing to the hitman's face. The adult would probably take it as Tsuna attempting to be domineering. However, Tsuna still wouldn't mind, he liked Reborn's possessiveness. "Hmm, perhaps I'll go meet them. You still need to get some rest to fully recover. Your stitches are still in and I don't want you pulling them any time soon. I'll have Shamal take them out for you later this week once they've healed up nicely."

The brunet just continued to beam. "I'll be good. I'd rather recover than remain trapped in bed. Maybe you can tell them to head downstairs, perhaps? I heard that Lambo and I-pin are going out with Haru and Kyoko later today. Oh, and Mom is heading out with some friends. It'll make things easier if you have the meeting there."

"That's a good idea," Reborn muttered under his breath, rubbing the bottom of his chin. It would enable him to keep an eye on the brunet as well. Tsuna was known for frequently getting into trouble at the worst of times, if not always. "I'll tell them that. We need to formulate a plan to get things situated and you need to be included."

"Sure."

"Then I'll be right back. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Eh? Don't you have any sort of confidence in me?"

The baby just smirked. "None whatsoever."

"That hurts, Reborn. That really does."

* * *

Later that evening, Tsuna could hear the Arcobaleno's conversation through the floor, knowing very well that it was solely about him and the remaining ignorant members. He could pick out the words clearly despite the wall between the two rooms. Still, he remained hushed, lying in bed quietly as he waited for the end results. He knew that Reborn wouldn't take long, he never did. That was just the baby's personality and Tsuna didn't mind it regardless of his protests. There were times when he was annoyed by it, but those moments were beginning to become a rarity. He liked Reborn's directness, never hiding anything too important unless there was a great reason behind it.

Tsuna smiled gently to himself, burying his face into the pillow and sighed blissfully. He could wait until Reborn was done, he wanted to get some sleep before anything happened and take this time to recover. Once the plan went into play, rest wouldn't be an option any longer. As Tsuna shifted in bed, he winced. The medicine he was taking to help with the pain only worked to an extent and he was almost due for his next dose, feeling the dull ache become a sharp stabbing.

Just as he was about to start drifting off into slumber, he heard the voices downstairs began to hush up, followed by tiny pitter-patters of footsteps heading towards his bedroom. He almost groaned, but resisted, throwing the covers over his head to prevent seeing the rest of the babies. He was still tired despite sleeping all day and he wanted nothing more than to sleep the remaining hours of it away. However, that wish was thrown out the window when Reborn slammed the door open, walking in as if he owned the place, which was probably the truth, and hopped onto the bed where he proceeded to tackle Tsuna over the head. A muffled yelp escaped through the blankets, but it all went silent when the sky guardian shifted around, trying to get comfortable despite the extra weight on his head. He grumbled and finally tilted to the side to give in, not wanting to bother with his lover. It was better to let Reborn have his way. The hitman was less abusive when he did.

"Tsuna, get up. We're including you in this conversation. I won't allow any repeats." Reborn huffed, lightly smacking the brunet through the blankets in amusement. He heard a grumble from underneath again and jumped back in time to see Tsuna sitting up, looking quite displeased.

The sky guardian glanced around the room to see only three of the Arcobaleno together and smirked, his mind reflecting back to when they had all been adults. As he sat up, he saw Reborn out of the corner of his eyes picking up his medicine bottle that had been placed on his nightstand and opening the cap. He immediately glanced over towards the clock for the time and sighed in relief, glad to be getting his next dose. Taking the offered medication, he swallowed them gratefully with some water and nodded his head in thanks, handing the near empty glass back. Reborn didn't mind and did as requested, placing the glass onto the table.

"So," Tsuna started as he smacked his lips. "What are we going to be talking about exactly? I'm certain you've finished some things, right?"

Verde was the first to speak up, stepping towards the bed with Skull right behind. He lifted his glasses further up his nose with his tiny fingers just as the purple-haired Arcobaleno closed the door behind them. "That should be obvious. We've decided that it has to be someone who interacted with us, or more importantly, you only. There are only a few people on that list, correct?"

Tsuna nodded, turning his attention towards the hitman. "I was with Reborn most of the time. I was _rarely_ without him. Anyone I met had to have met him as well."

The sun Arcobaleno huffed, confirming that statement. "That's what I said as well. The numbers are quite low on who it could possibly be. Most we still see to this very day and we both know they don't contain those sorts of abilities. We would have already known."

Skull remained quiet in the background, unable to say anything or offer any enlightenment. Verde, however, continued to move, getting closer. The scientist leapt onto bed, staring at the two lovers before peering down at his own feet as he tried to settle comfortably on the sinking mattress. The only ones who really knew about the relationship between the two were the lovers themselves, keeping everyone else in the dark. Both knew their duties would get in the way of their relationship and with how Reborn currently was, there was no doubt there would be resulting trouble. "There is only one person who isn't here anymore."

The Arcobaleno peered at each other dejectedly, knowing exactly who Verde was talking about and went silent. Tsuna blinked, tilting his head. "Who?"

"Luce." Reborn answered for him, gazing down towards the blankets that were bunched up around him. A shadow appeared in his eyes, a flash of darkness moving through. "Though we officially tell everyone else that she disappeared, she's really…" He trailed off, looking away. His eyes clearly stated that he didn't want to talk about this subject anymore. Everyone else followed along, keeping quiet.

Tsuna immediately caught on and sighed. "I see. The sky Arcobaleno curse…"

"The sky Arcobaleno are different, they always have short lives. Luce fell to it long ago. All of a sudden, she just vanished out of nowhere, leaving behind only her bits and bobs. It was just as Yuni had done so when she revived the Arcobaleno in the future," Verde continued. "She's the only one we can't talk to."

The group fell into silence once more, the babies suffering from the loss of their old leader and companion. It was painful, no doubt, but they would move on eventually. It had been many years since that point. Tsuna kept quiet, remembering how Luce had treated him in the past despite the time's shortness, she had been so kindhearted. She really looked like an older version of Yuni, he had a feeling she would grow up to look just like her grandmother.

"Anyway," Reborn broke through the tension first, snapping everyone out of their states. "We need to have the others remember before doing anything. One of them might have seen what happened. The chances are low, but it's better than nothing at this point in time."

"True, but it could be all for naught as well! It could be pointless!" Skull grumbled soon after, earning a kick in the forehead courtesy of Reborn. The purple-haired baby went flying back towards the wall, bouncing off by the force. The hitman back flipped in midair and landed on the bed elegantly.

"I don't like that kind of talk."

"Did you really have to hit me?"

"Yes."

"Damn you, Reborn!"

Suddenly, the hitman tossed a half-hearted glare and the cloud Arcobaleno instantaneously went silent, hiding behind Verde in fear. Tsuna just smiled at the sight before him regardless of the violence, closing his eyes. He was tempted to get up to stop the fighting, but resisted, knowing that Reborn was just messing around.

Verde huffed, moving away from the weakest member of the group and grumbled under his breath. "Well, the first person we should go after would be either Colonello or Fong. Those two are in the area and it would probably be easier to spark something. You didn't interact with Viper or Lal as much compared to those two."

Tsuna almost wanted to retort that he _had_ interacted with Lal more than Fong, but resisted. He remembered Fong as a kind person, always smiling and being calm despite the situation. It would be good to have someone like him around to help the problems that were constantly piling up. He nodded his head to that and smiled. "When do you think we should start then?"

"Whenever you're healed, unless we can get them over to visit." Reborn remarked.

"I see. Well, whichever comes first?" Tsuna leaned back, falling onto the bed. His head rested against the pillow and he sighed heavily as the pain from his wound and stitches went back to a dull ache. It was bearable at least. He scooted around in bed, feeling Reborn shift to the side. "If they want to come over, let them. It hasn't stopped anyone before after all."

Reborn almost smirked, folding his arms. "That's true. We do get an unusual amount of visitors."

Tsuna didn't want to remark that the visitors were because of him. Instead, he said, "So just tell Fong and Colonello to come around more often. Fong especially since I'm sure I-pin will be ecstatic." Tsuna shifted in bed once more, moving onto his side. Despite the angle, he could still see everyone in his room. Reborn almost shook his head at the sight of his lover and flopped onto the mattress, getting himself comfortable. It was clear to say that the conversation was drifting to a close, the other two Arcobaleno diving into a random subject before turning the attention to themselves. Tsuna didn't pay any attention, his mind elsewhere for the time being. As time progressed, Tsuna fell asleep and about an hour into his slumber the front door opened and closed, causing him to wake.

He blinked tiredly before budging in bed, looking around to spot Reborn beside him as usual. Tsuna smiled and listened as the person downstairs came rushing up. He thought for a moment that it might be Gokudera considering the speed. However, when the door slammed open, Tsuna blinked in shock.

"Reborn, love!"

Tsuna almost flinched, but resisted at the last second. His eyes darted to the pink-haired teenager, the one who, just like him, was in love with Reborn. He remained still, not wanting to react, and simply watched the proceedings. Bianchi beamed brilliantly at the sight of her beloved and came dashing forward, getting down onto her knees as she stared at the baby. The rest of the Arcobaleno were pushed aside by her, glaring at the back of Bianchi's head.

"Reborn! It's good to see you again! I've missed you so much," Bianchi chuckled, flicking her long hair back. "You haven't been home for a long time."

The hitman didn't reveal an ounce of emotion, he simply stared. "Ah, good timing. I need to talk to you about something important."

Tsuna blinked at that and raised his head curiously. He caught the look from Reborn and immediately went quiet, understanding the hidden meaning. He sighed and collapsed back down in bed as he closed his eyes. Shrugging his shoulders, he could only watch as Reborn lead Bianchi out the door with his fedora in hand, letting her know that he wanted to go out for a quick walk. His honey-colored eyes rested on the baby's form, watching as his bedroom door shut with a loud click. The two other Arcobaleno simply watched curiously, looking a little disgusted.

"Tch, Reborn should stop leading that woman on," Verde remarked, pushing up his glasses. "It's not as if he can really do anything anyway."

Tsuna almost smiled at that, knowing the truth in those words. As he listened to the bickering in the background, he glanced over everyone in the room before peering out the window. His eyes observed the white clouds and the bright blue sky before tearing his vision away, already growing tired of the excessive noise. He could only handle so much after all. Still, his mind was more concerned about Reborn than the memory wipe. With Reborn running off just moments ago with Bianchi, he feared for the worst, not for him, but for her. He knew the pink-haired teen was deeply in love with the hitman, but some things just had to be changed regardless of the consequences and Tsuna knew that. He could only hope that Reborn would make the parting nice and slow to appease her.

* * *

Bianchi was overly happy, she was finally getting some alone time with her love at long last. She couldn't help but be completely content with the situation despite its supposed seriousness. The moment they stepped outside, she hadn't known what to do since it had been so long since they had been alone. However, Reborn took the lead and wandered away, so Bianchi followed right behind. The pink-haired teen didn't mind trailing after him; her mind was elsewhere as she thought about the various places they could go together. It was rare after all, to have any sort of alone time with the number one hitman considering his job and the household they lived in. There were too many people to have a private or intimate conversation without being overheard. However, despite Reborn being busy training Sawada Tsunayoshi, there was no doubt in her mind that it was a good thing. It kept the infamous hitman grounded to a particular place at all times, which gave Bianchi a idea of where he always was. Seeing Gokudera, her younger half-brother, was a bonus.

The baby was walking beside her, looking as normal as always with Leon settled in his usual spot on the edge of Reborn's fedora. However, the aura surrounding him was different, one that she couldn't identify. Bianchi was no doubt curious at the sudden invitation, but left the hitman to his own devices, knowing very well that he was competent enough to fix whatever was troubling him. It was one of the many things that she loved about him – his strong independence.

"Bianchi," Reborn suddenly spoke up, catching the pink-haired woman's attention. They were all alone on an empty street in the neighborhood. The sun cast it rays over their heads, creating shadows on the cement. "We need to talk."

Those four words froze the woman solid, her eyes widening in shock. Those words, she knew what they meant, any woman would, and how she hated them. Her fingers tightly clenched into a fist, her nails digging into the palm of her hand. Still, she tried to keep a straight face, refusing to allow the surprise to surface on her expression. "W-What are you talking about, my love?"

The hitman simply stared back, his face calm and collected, before letting out a sigh. "Bianchi, we really need to talk." Reborn repeated to clear up the woman's racing mind. This was going to be a hard conversation, he just knew it. Nevertheless, it had to be done - for both his sake and Tsuna's. He could no longer have Bianchi around him like this anymore, not when his heart sung true for the brunet. It wouldn't be fair for either of them. "I know it's hard to listen when you probably know what this conversation is about, but I need you to."

Immediately, Bianchi's attitude changed, taking a step back in horror. "R-Reborn, no. I don't want to listen. I don't want to have anything to do with this. I want us to stay together forever. I love you after all."

"Don't make this hard, Bianchi. We both knew this would happen sooner or later," Reborn huffed from under his breath, yanking his fedora to the side. The shadow that generally covered his eyes tilted and he continued to stare at the other. A small flicker of sadness flashed through his eyes, but then it was gone. "You would be a fool if you thought otherwise." The hitman paused to allow some time for his words to be absorbed into her mind before continuing. "Look, you need to fall in love with someone that isn't me. I can't be the one to complete your life."

Bianchi gasped, her body going still as the words repeated in her mind, and cried out as tears began to form in her eyes. "But I love you, Reborn! I always have since I was young! Reborn, we're meant to be!"

"No," The hitman shook his head at the accusation. "To me someone fits that role and it's not you. I've been in love with someone else long before you were ever born into this world. And it would be wrong to continue to string you along with lies that would never be. It wouldn't be fair for you."

"But you have plenty of lovers! You've never minded us having to share you. I love you, Reborn." The last bit revealed some desperation within her voice, trying to persuade the hitman otherwise.

There was a momentary pause as Reborn glanced down, pulling his fedora down to cover his eyes from view. He couldn't bear to look at her anymore, not like this when she was about to fall apart. "I'm afraid I've already told them all the same thing. I've broken up with each and every one of them. I have no lovers except for one now and that person isn't you, Bianchi," Leon shifted at his movement, crawling around the center of the hat until he got into a better position. "It's wrong to keep doing this. I didn't want to cheat on my lover with anyone else, just like you wouldn't want the same thing to happen to you."

Bianchi didn't speak, knowing very well that Reborn wasn't done and simply remained still as everything came crashing down.

The hitman offered a small smirk, not looking up. "You're young. You'll bounce back once you find someone who truly loves and cares for you, someone that will take care of you and love you with all their heart. I will never fit that role."

"But!"

Reborn raised his head up to silence her, a sharp snap in his eyes. "You were beaten by someone else by ten years ago."

Those words silenced her, almost as if it was an ultimatum. It was like telling her that everything was finished, and it was. Bianchi stared ahead, unable to say anything else. She didn't _want_ to think about it. What was she supposed to say anyway? It was over. Her love for Reborn had been shattered just like that by the hitman himself. It was almost like everything she had done for him had been for naught. Her mind could barely process this occurrence since it had happened so fast and out of nowhere that she simply remained still in her very spot.

"I'm going to go on ahead." Reborn muttered under his breath and carefully stepped on, leaving the woman in silence. He couldn't do anything but wait for her to piece herself back together. There wasn't anything else he could do, much less say, without further upsetting her. Everything was just basically done and over with and staying any longer would only cause more problems. Reborn almost wanted to sigh, but resisted it and the urge to take a glance back at her as he turned the corner. It had been hard - their relationship had been going on for so many years. It was tough, but it had to be done. And though he knew it had been harsh, it was for the best in the end. With the string that attached them broken, they could now pursue their own true lovers – he already knew who his was.

Despite everything, Reborn still cared for the pink-haired teen and knew that this would help her grow. Bianchi needed to move onto someone else, someone who would be able to really love her back. Sighing, Reborn quickly made his way back towards the Sawada household, refusing to stray too far away from his lover. He didn't want to leave the range so soon, not after the shooting and the years of memory loss. As he came crashing back into Tsuna's room through the open window, his eyes peered up at the brunet on his bed. The rest of the Arcobaleno were absent, having gone home for the day, leaving the two alone in the bedroom. The sky guardian glanced up curiously from the scattered pieces of paper on his bed, ignoring his homework the moment the hitman appeared. Neither of them asked any questions, waiting for the other to speak first, but when neither did, they didn't bother to delve into a conversation. The Vongola boss didn't say a word and patted the open spot beside him, welcoming the hitman to settle against him for comfort.

Reborn followed the movement before joining, cuddling himself up against the teenager after taking his fedora off. His signature hat was placed against the nightstand and he closed his eyes as he took in Tsuna's welcoming scent. After thirty minutes passing with no verbal exchange, Tsuna finally spoke up, "What happened, Reborn? This… isn't like you at all."

The hitman lifted his head, his large black eyes peering up at the other. No emotion flashed through them, nothing that revealed anything running through his mind. Still, the baby didn't speak until a sigh slipped through his lips. "I broke up with Bianchi."

Tsuna froze. "Oh…" So his guess had been correct.

"Yep, it's finally been done."

The teenager placed his pen down and shoved all of his materials to the side, allowing more room for the other. He reached over and pulled Reborn up into his arms, holding the baby preciously in his grasp. It was welcoming and warm for the hitman and he found himself indulging in it. It was something he had wanted for a long time in his shady world, a world where only coldness and darkness existed. Tsuna leaned back against the head of his bed. "It must have been hard. You've been with her for a long time. Did she take it well?" He paused before continuing on, not allowing Reborn to answer that question yet. "Never mind, I doubt she did. It's a hard blow for her after all."

"You are correct on that. I've been with her since she was a child. She was nice to have around since she was so bright." Reborn muttered under his breath. "However, there's someone else that shines brighter than her." With a smug smirk, he peered up at the brunet, watching as Tsuna's cheeks turned bright red. He was glad that despite being trapped in a different form, he could still affect Tsuna's emotions so easily. He hoped that the brunet would never change. He liked having his lover react like this, so familiar to the one in the past and present.

It had been too obvious that his memory loss had changed Tsuna, making him grow up faster to compensate for the sadness and to stand on his own to keep moving forward. Still, at the same time, it hadn't been a bad thing either despite how hard it had been for the both of them. Tsuna had grown up, the one thing Reborn had been wanting since his boss training with the brunet. And now with his involvement with the other, he would help steer Tsuna towards the right direction in the future. He would make sure of it.

"I'm quite glad that my memories of you being cute in the past are the same."

"Reborn!" Tsuna yelped, letting go of Reborn as he threw the covers over his head as he tried to hide his burning expression. "Stop saying such embarrassing things!" Reborn landed gracefully onto the blankets, chuckling in amusement, and poked Tsuna in the side. He really did enjoy getting a reaction from his lover. Tsuna was just too cute not to tease.


	31. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, try as I might in writing the next chapter or the ones after, it isn't happening. So instead of leaving it permanently trailed off, I'll write the plot points down here so that way people can at least have the ending.
> 
> Please note there are TWO endings to this story! Make sure to read both and the both notes!

**What would have happened**

Reborn and Tsuna begin researching in bringing the memories back for the other Arcobaleno and what the possible triggers for them. They argue that it might be simpler to explain the situation but Reborn brings up a good point that with the memories warped, it's not possible. They would no doubt believe _they_ are the ones that are delusional. People are sent to argue such accusations when they believing what they know to truly be real.

A couple days later, they put their first plan into action. With little trouble and for once heading the way it was supposed to, they managed to get Colonello on their side who brings in some insight they were missing. It appears that it wasn't exactly some outside influence but someone that knew all of them and the Arcobaleno themselves the best. The person had to be someone that was close to all of them, someone they deeply trusted, in order to manipulate them without knowing. There is only one person that fits that role much to many of their reluctance in believing this person could do such a thing in the first place: Luce.

Deciding that it was better to go ahead with this idea, they ignore getting the rest of the Arcobaleno. Eventually, they manage to contact Aria to see if she knows anything about Luce's disappearance, which she sadly doesn't. They exchange information in the meantime and Tsuna meets up with Yuni. They chat for a little longer before Aria is called away for a meeting with another mafia group, taking Yuni with her since she needs protection from outside forces as she is the current heir for the group.

With what little they have, the group continues to search for Luce and while they do so, they manage to get Fon onto their side as well. Some humor occurs and Tsuna meets with his guardians to explain what has been happening. Though they don't completely understanding what is happening, support Tsuna completely in his decisions.

Eventually, after a month, Verde manages to find a small trigger to recognizable sky flames that could only belong to her. While alerting the others, he tracks it down to a small shop in the suburban area of Tokyo and gathers everyone there in full gear, unsure of that they could possibly find inside.

They find Luce still alive in the building and in her baby form, drinking tea with another man like there is nothing wrong. The group is obviously shocked by her appearance and tears are spilled while others stare suspiciously at the other man. Her companion reveals himself to be Kawahira or Checkered Face, the one that had started the Arcobaleno curse from the very beginning. Angered words are thrown around, demanding both for the truth and the reversal of their cursed forms.

Kawahira doesn't say anything at first, shrugging his shoulders as if unaffected by the assured words. "I think you should be asking Luce about her situation before you come after me. You're missing too many valuables to many all the conclusions you desire."

Luce decides to step up after putting down her cup of tea. She explains how she survived the sky curse that would have no doubt taken her life.

"It's not possible to kill me, not that easily anyway. My ancestors protected this world and I was born to do so as well until my very last breath. A curse won't keep me from fulfilling my duty, not until the day I retire and pass it onto someone else. Even if someone manages to kill me, I'll come back. I always do." Luce smiled sadly as she stared into the green liquid of her tea, watching her own eyes peer back. "However, because of that, I can't be remembered. Memories are altered so that no one remembers how I perished and many times, it goes further back to ensure that no one knows how it came to be."

Many tried to speak up, wondering why she couldn't just come back to the group and tell them what happened.

Luce continues. "This is a well kept secret, one that has been ongoing for hundreds of years. There are so few of my kind left and there are many that would no doubt make use of our powers and abilities. It's better to keep it a secret even from the people we care about the most. To ensure the secrets of this world are safe. There are too many people out there that would use the Tri-Ni-Set for their own plans." She pauses for a moment to allow the group to absorb the information. "Did you know that Aria would have been a good candidate to take over for me? But the exposure to the outside world and the corruption that the mafia held changed her. She's still the lovely daughter that I gave birth to but not the one I remembered and I knew about that long before she was even born. So I had to search for a new candidate if something were to happen to me."

Her eyes drifted over the crowd before finally stopping at Tsuna. "Then you, Sawada Tsunayoshi, showed up and I _knew_ you were perfect. I could already see your future, your strengths, and your very heart. You were the one that would take over for me. So when I perished by the curse, I altered everyone that had met you to ensure that when you arrived back to the future or met you later in time, there would be no outside influences that would change your perception."

More words are split over the situation, Tsuna in shock over what he's heard.

"You'll take over for me the moment I decide to end it."

Ultimately, there are more questions than answers before Luce and Kawahira leave in a flash of bright light, disappearing once more. The Arcobaleno and Tsuna tried to chase after them by searching the surroundings but they simply vanished into thin air.

When the group returns back home, the rest of the Arcobaleno and Varia are there waiting. Whatever altercation that had happened to their memories has been lifted and there are more arguments and those trying to get confirmation that what they remembered truly happened. Fong and Verde explain what had occurred to all of them and what they had found when meeting with Luce.

Two weeks later, things have gotten back to a more regular routine. It is during this time that Verde made a discovery that their bodies are growing once more. It's a slow start and with some tests, he manages to predict that their bodies will be back to normal within five to ten years. Tsuna and Reborn have a moment together at the thought of being lovers once more but despite the feelings they share, Tsuna still needs to be trained to become a mafia boss. He's more accepting of the role now, though that doesn't mean he won't argue about the treatment the hitman still gives him.

Ten years later, Reborn is back to his normal size and its well-known among the mafia that they are together. They share a very intimate moment in the bedroom before smiling at each other and falling asleep in each other's arms.

**THE END**

* * *

_Originally, I was thinking of having Tsuna die as his older self to keep the darkness of the story going but then decided otherwise since I was rushing. However, since I'm not writing the entire story out, I can actually write out that little plot line. This is what would have happened if I had decided to go with this route:_

A few days after Tsuna had an official treaty signing with a unnamed mafia group, he is gunned down on the way back home to see his mother. He had stepped in front of his youngest guardian, Lambo, to protect him from the assault and the bullet had lodged itself into his once-beating heart. However, as he faded away, he could only smile and gaze up towards the bright blue sky. The faces of those close to him flashes through his mind, Reborn's sticking out the most, and it is during that time that the shadow that has been following him since his younger years had shifted to peer down from above him. Tsuna had been so busy that he had never noticed that it had finally come close enough to touch him. In his final moments, as he watched his friends cry for him and dash around to get medical attention that wouldn't make it in time, his eyes could see the shadow up close and make out the very features of the being. Opening his lips, struggling to make a sound, he whispered something that couldn't be heard over the noise before finally closing his eyes to pass away.

Reborn, upon hearing the news, is devastated and drives himself into a path filled with death and destruction to keep his mind clear from the thoughts of his lover being dead. He avoids Vongola and the funeral they hold for his beloved Decimo, no longer wanting to interact with a place that held such once happy memories. It was a couple months later that Luce and Kawahira reappear during the time he invades a unknown mafia group. It was there that he finds some peace that he very well needs.

Luce simply smiled, traced with sadness for her dear friend. "You don't think everything is done just yet, do you?" She placed her hands against the middle of her form, looking eerily calm despite the grotesque setting that Reborn had created around her. "I said that Tsunayoshi was meant to take over for me, didn't I? That means things aren't just over yet."

"What do you mean by that?" Reborn demanded. "Tsuna is dead! There's nothing more than that!"

"He died, yes, but death isn't the end of everything." She turned around to look out a blood-tinged window, the sun shining above. "I shall perish in about ten years when Tsunayoshi finally takes over as my successor. He already has the spell attached to him, ready to be activated when I perish. However, when he comes back, he needs someone there to be with him, to help him in this new found world he's been away for so many years." Luce twisted back, "Both Kawahira and myself agreed on this that you would be a good candidate to do that. Will you take that oath so that you will still be there for him when he returns? Will you take a cursed lifetime to be together with your lover?"

Reborn was silent but his mind was already set on the answer before he had thought out about the details. He would do anything to be with Tsuna again and the complications of the matter didn't make a difference to him. Without a single thought of doubt, he agreed. "Yes..."

"So when I die, head back to the place on the mountain where the Arcobaleno curse for all of us began. He will appear there."

Ten years later, he felt the death of his dear friend, Luce, and immediately headed towards the mountain. Reborn mourned his friend, knowing her death this time was permanent, but the idea of having Tsuna back with him overpowered his grief and pushed him forward. He arrived at the mountain and after an hour of wandering, he found the person he had been desiring for years tumbling down the side of a hill. Reborn froze, observing his lover carefully. Nothing had changed, he looked the exact same as he had before he had died. There was confusion in those honey-colored eyes but when they turned to examine the area, Tsuna spotted the hitman and paused. Reborn could just see the information processing in his brain and watched as the brunet broke out into a smile.

"Reborn!"

Tsuna immediately ran towards his lover and instantly wrapped his arms around the other, holding him tightly as he buried his face into the crook of Reborn's neck. The pull of the brunet's arms forced Reborn to act and he reached up to cup Tsuna's chin so that they could peer into each other's eyes.

With a smirk, Reborn spoke, "I've missed you, Dame-Tsuna." Leaning down, he goes for a kiss, knowing that things had turned out the way he wanted them to.

**THE OFFICIAL END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! Sorry for not being able to update like I wanted to but I wanted to at least give the ending to those still reading, if there are any left. Updates for other stories will be slow since I don't have a beta anymore but I'm hoping to get started up on those soon.
> 
> Also, well aware there are some open details in this story and they are meant that way or would have been fully explained in the whole story, which obviously didn't happen. Still, I gave this story an end that it needed. Enjoy!
> 
> Thanks for the support of the years!


End file.
